Nursing Instructor Brings Wealth of Experience to Role

It was a combination of hard work and family ties that led Kirsten Eckerman to the role of third-semester Nursing instructor at Blackhawk.

A native of Danville, Ohio, Kirsten earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from The College of Wooster. During her sophomore year, she started working in a dementia unit as a nursing assistant. She fell in love with being a nurse and realized her original major of Speech Therapy wasn’t the right path.

As well as having two aunts as nurses, Kirsten always felt a calling after her dad suffered a severe brain injury when she was seven. The problem was that the college she was attending didn’t offer a Nursing program at the time.

After graduating from Wooster, Kirsten headed to Toledo where she earned her LPN before moving to Wisconsin with her husband, who was born and raised here.

Kirsten completed the LPN to RN program here at Blackhawk and then finished her ADN-BSN-MSN through Grand Canyon University. She has spent the last ten years as an emergency department nurse, including seven years at University Hospital in Madison.

Kirsten is also board certified in Adult Emergency Nursing and Pediatric Emergency Nursing and has experience as a Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse, which allows her to operate as a paramedic in Illinois.

However, teaching was not something that Kirsten originally had in mind.

“If you would have asked me 6 years ago if I’d ever teach, I would have laughed you right out of the room,” she said.

While Kirsten was working at UW Hospital, she had the opportunity to precept fourth-year BSN students and paramedic students. She enjoyed being able to pass along the knowledge she had found along the way and loved seeing others grow and become more confident in their roles.

Coming to Blackhawk wasn’t a hard decision for Kirsten to make.

“The nursing program has a phenomenal reputation,” she said.  “BTC nurses are well prepared and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”

Having the experience of being a traditional as well as a non-traditional student, Kirsten finds that the flexible, supportive environment opens many opportunities for students that have other obligations. She believes it gives the student autonomy, which is important for success.

Kirsten also thinks Blackhawk has a little bit of something for everyone.

“It fits the needs of an ‘on campus’ experience for the younger generations, while the more ‘experienced in life’ students like myself have access and opportunity to a flexible schedule and current technology,” she said.

Kirsten lives outside of South Wayne with her husband and two children as well as one cat and a dog. On Quit Yet Belly Achin’ Acres, the farm they manage, they raise pork, beef and chickens and have a large garden with a produce stand. She is an avid beekeeper and studying to become a Master Gardener.