Robin Heim, R.N.

50th Anniversary Notable Alumni Feature Robin Heim, R.N.: Growing up watching her father, a family practice physician, Robin always wanted to work in the medical field. After volunteering at a local hospital, she knew she wanted a hands-on role in patient care. She enrolled in the nursing program at Tulsa Junior College, now Tulsa Community College, while continuing to work full-time in the emergency room at Tulsa Regional Medical Center. “I was provided an excellent, well-rounded education that enabled me to immediately begin my career in nursing,” she said.

While in college, she was part of the National Disaster Medical Assistance Team (OK-DMAT 1) that responded following Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Marilyn and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City to provide medical care and support.

After graduating with her associate degree in nursing in 1995, she continued to work at Tulsa Regional Medical Center ER as well as the Intensive Care unit as a Registered Nurse. “The clinical skills I gained at TJC helped me to quickly integrate with the rest of the staff and become a unit leader within my first year of practice,” she said. Through her work, she became an advocate for organ and tissue donation and was approached by the American Red Cross to become a Donor Screener Supervisor. For eight years, she served the transplant community along with co-hosting the first Organ/Tissue/Eye donor family recognition ceremony in Oklahoma.

In 2007, Robin made a career change and began working at Saint Francis Hospital in the adult surgical admit and discharge unit. Soon after, she became one of the original nurses to prepare and staff the pediatric post anesthesia care unit as well as the dedicated pediatric admission and discharge unit for the new Children’s Hospital at Saint Francis. Currently, she is a preceptor for new staff and enjoys training and teaching nursing students as they begin their careers.