How One Nurse is Redefining Emergency Care, Education, and Empathy – Interview With Amber Soiland
Amber Soiland, RN, BSN, DNP(c), is not your typical emergency nurse. She’s an educator, entrepreneur, harm reduction advocate, Native American woman, and chronic illness warrior all rolled into one fierce, empathetic, and relentlessly driven human being. She’s building something bigger than a brand or a business. She’s building a movement.
And people are starting to notice.
Amber Soiland, Nurse Educator & Public Advocate
Finding purpose in the chaos
Amber’s nursing journey began in postpartum care, but her heart pulled her toward something more critical and more chaotic. “When I transferred into the emergency department, it was like I found my home,” she says. “It wasn’t just the fast pace; it was the chance to help people others often turn away from. Those battling addiction, mental illness, homelessness. I felt called to be the kind of nurse who walks toward the pain when others walk away.”
As a nurse living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and POTS, Amber knows vulnerability firsthand. She’s endured surgeries, torn ligaments, and debilitating fatigue, all while holding the line in the ER. “My health struggles have only made me more empathetic,” she says. “They help me meet people exactly where they are.”
Revolutionizing nurse education
Amber didn’t stop at patient care. Frustrated by the lack of hands-on training in her own hospital, she built a cutting-edge simulation facility using virtual reality and high-fidelity mock code environments. “Most nurses never get to be on trauma teams; they miss out on real exposure,” she explains. “In my facility, they get to intubate peds, program IV pumps, crack open crash carts, and respond to active shooter drills all in a safe environment where mistakes are part of the learning.”
Her program doesn’t stop at annual certifications. Nurses can drop in anytime to strengthen their weak spots, building confidence through immersive practice. “If your virtual patient dies, we just hit reset and go again. That’s how you build skill. That’s how you build leaders.”
From harm reduction to hope
Amber also leads a not-for-profit Narcan and fentanyl test strip distribution effort, volunteering at music festivals, marathons, and local events to bring lifesaving resources into the hands of those most at risk. “This isn’t about enabling drug use. It’s about accepting the reality of the world we live in and choosing to protect people anyway,” she says.
She does it all while raising five children and supporting her husband, often sacrificing time at home because, as she puts it, “If I don’t show up, who will?” Her commitment to harm reduction and public education has led her to build a strong social media presence, where she tackles topics like mental health, addiction, overdose prevention, and critical care with honesty and heart.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe inside their own mind,” she says. “And I will always be the loudest voice in the room fighting for that.”
A voice for change
Amber’s advocacy doesn’t stop at the bedside. She’s pursuing her DNP with plans to open a culturally appropriate wellness and addiction recovery clinic in California’s wine country, a place for people to rest, be heard, and begin again. But her vision goes even further. “Could I see myself in Sacramento? On the steps of Washington D.C.? Absolutely,” she says. “Politics shouldn’t be about fighting; they should be about listening. And I’m not afraid to stand up for the smallest of people.”
She’s not in this for accolades or status. She’s in it to change the way healthcare works from the inside out. She wants to challenge stigma, restore empathy, and make emergency care more human.
Follow the movement
Amber shares behind-the-scenes videos, nursing tips, and bold truths about addiction, emergency care, mental health, and harm reduction on her growing social media platforms. She’s not afraid to speak up, and she’s inviting others to join her.
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