From the surface, it appears technology connects two important points in Maria Heeke’s life. Actually, nursing is the common thread.
Maria, Information Systems (IS) informaticist, grew up in Clayton with her five siblings in the very house where she was born. Her grandmother worked at Hendricks as a nurse in the mental health unit. Maria thought being a nurse sounded interesting but wasn’t completely sold until her senior year of high school. “My best friend went into nursing,” said Maria. “I wanted to stay with her, so we made our way through nursing school together.”
Attending school with mostly females forced Maria to get creative to meet people. “When I got interested in dating, I turned to an online matchmaking service,” she said. “It worked! We’re getting ready to celebrate our 11th anniversary.”
Maria has worked in Intensive Care since completing her degree. “I liked the amount of time we got to spend with each ICU patient,” she said. “It helped us get to know them and their families well.” She joined Hendricks Regional Health’s ICU team in 2013.
When Hendricks implemented Epic as our electronic medical record (EMR) in 2017, Maria was chosen to be a credentialed trainer. The experience opened her eyes. “Bedside workflow is hard,” she said. “I saw how connecting technology to nursing could make the job a little easier.” When additional informaticists were hired to support the new EMR, Maria successfully applied.
When COVID struck in 2020, Maria was asked to temporarily leave her IS responsibilities to return to nursing in the ICU. “COVID threw my world upside down,” she said. “It was hard; I’d been away from the bedside for a couple of years.”
Maria spent several months back in the ICU and praises her IS teammates for giving her the time she needed to focus on the patients. “The team is amazing!” she said. “They picked up my responsibilities until I returned.”
In May 2021, Maria was one of five associates chosen to represent Hendricks at the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway honored healthcare workers for their efforts during the pandemic. “That was my first time at the Indy 500, and I loved it!” said Maria. “It was a huge privilege to represent everyone at Hendricks.”
Back at her IS duties, Maria says her experience during COVID taught her a lot. “Hendricks Regional Health is an amazing place to work,” said Maria. “When we need to, everyone, clinical and non-clinical, pitches in to do what is best for our patients and our community. I was honored to have the opportunity to help our nurses and our patients during the pandemic.”
