Team Member Spotlight – Erica Garrett
Congratulations Erica Garrett!
Erica recently earned her BSN after 14 years working as an LVN. Erica is a member of our Texas team in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She originally started her career with Multispecialty Physician Partners (MPP) in October 2014 and has been on a course to increase her knowledge, skills, and credentials ever since. Erica decided the time was right to go back to school and obtain her RN license after her oldest son graduated from high school. She found a way to balance work schedules, schoolwork, and juggling the competing demands of being a single parent to finish this pursuit.
At an early age, Erica realized that she loved helping and caring for others when she found joy and ease in caring for her bedridden grandmother as a child. In her early career, she pursued the sciences and majored in biology because she had planned to become a pharmacist. After starting off on this path, she decided to change her focus to nursing. She started a family while continuing to take college courses and got her phlebotomy certificate to get things going. When she didn’t score high enough to get into nursing school after her first application, she didn’t let that stop her. That is when she went for her LVN, immediately applying to that program, and starting right away.
During COVID-19, clinical sites would not allow nursing students to come in for clinical practice. So, clinicals were delayed for Erica. But again, she didn’t let that stop her. She found an online program nursing school through the University of Arkansas that accepted all her nursing courses and, once again, Erica was back on track, pursuing her education and career goals. As Erica puts it, “If you have a passion for something – great! Let that motivate you to persevere to reach your goals.”
“I love my job because I love patient care…providing patients with the utmost, exceptional, and compassionate care as that experience assists in the healing process. I like working at Vivo because I like the fact that our treatments can change and heal our patient’s quality of life quickly.”
Wendy Roper, Erica’s Clinic Manager, APRN, FNP-C, shared, “Erica is an amazing nurse and coworker. Her love for patients is evident in the quality of care she gives our patients and their families. She is always calm, and flexible, and has an open mind when it comes to change or adversity. Her drive and continued commitment to her goals, no matter what comes her way, is to be admired.”
Her advice for others who want to pursue this field is to never give up on your dreams. Erica has already set her sights on pursuing her master’s degree – possibly in psychiatric nursing or family practice. She is inspired by women in leadership and those who have overcome and conquered the odds.
Some fun facts about Erica: She was a collegiate competitive volleyball player. She plays the clarinet, and she has been in a movie with Vivica Fox and Shemar Moore. Erica has also met Busta Rhymes. Erica and Wendy are ‘birthday twins’ sharing the same birthdate, including the birth year!
