About
About Erika, The Addiction Nurse
With nearly three decades in nursing and almost 20 years specializing in addiction and mental health, Erika is one of a rare few professionals in the country who combines frontline clinical expertise, executive nursing leadership, and independent practice in addiction care. She is a Certified Addiction Registered Nurse (CARN) — an ASAM-endorsed designation credentialed by the International Nurses Society on Addictions and the Addiction Nursing Certification Board — and holds Registered Professional Nursing licenses in both New York and New Jersey.
Erika's career spans the full spectrum of addiction treatment settings — methadone clinics, inpatient detox, residential and outpatient programs, harm reduction centers, street medicine, hospital-based addiction medicine units and inpatient psychiatry. Her experience extends further into long-term care, hospice, primary care, and infectious disease, giving her a breadth of clinical perspective that few in her field can claim. She has assisted in the opening and management of addiction treatment centers in both New York and New Jersey, and remains actively embedded in addiction treatment leadership as a Director of Nursing in the New York metropolitan area — meaning the expertise she brings to every facility is current, lived, and immediately applicable.
A co-author of a published research abstract and former Institutional Review Board member, she has served as Principal Investigator on a SAMHSA-funded Street Medicine pilot program, developed and implemented COVID control plans across treatment programs, and worked collaboratively with child protective services, court systems, and payer networks. She also brings strong working familiarity with electronic medical record systems — including KIPU, Epic, Meditech, and methadone dispensing platforms.
Her clinical depth is matched by her operational and regulatory expertise. She understands regulatory compliance not as a checklist but as a living practice — having guided facilities through state, federal, and accreditation requirements including The Joint Commission, CARF, SAMHSA, and DEA standards for narcotic treatment programs. That same hands-on expertise extends across insurance authorization and appeals, nursing documentation supporting medical necessity, diversion prevention, quality assurance, and policy development.
As a passionate advocate in addiction medicine, Erika has presented on clinical best practices for Hepatitis C elimination and harm reduction at the Hepatitis C Elimination Symposium at Seton Hall Law School, explored and discussed the role of the Endocannabinoid System and cannabis in addiction recovery at the New Jersey 420 Expo, and served as a featured panel speaker on substance use and men's mental health for a UK-based international mental health program.
Erika is always happy to connect with fellow professionals, facilities, and organizations working to improve addiction care. Reach out to start the conversation.
