Braveheart: Fellowship Nurse Saves Patient from
Life-threatening Heart Attack

From nursing school to saving lives, St. John’s Mercy nurse Tisha Wagner quickly hit the ground running. Within months of receiving her nursing license and completing her Critical Care Fellowship, Wagner applied her education and hands-on experience to accomplish every nurse’s dream – providing a patient with a second chance at life.

Wagner’s colleague, Gerry Huber, cardiovascular nurse clinician, expected nothing less from this rising star. According to Huber, Wagner was assigned to the patient early on a December morning. The patient was admitted with mild chest pains. Given his family history of heart conditions, the patient was scheduled for a stress test, requiring him to stop taking nitrates.

“Tisha prepared the patient as ordered but was diligent to ascertain his tolerance to the change of therapy,” said Huber. “Within minutes off the nitrates, the patient redeveloped chest pains. Tisha immediately sought assistance and notifi ed the attending physician.”

Tests revealed the patient’s worst nightmare – he was having an acute myocardial infarction, resulting in a 99 percent blockage in one of his arteries. Within 30 minutes of the patient’s recurrent chest pain, he was rushed into the cardiac cath lab and received the necessary procedure – a time Huber claimed was “superior to the gold standard.” Outstandingly, the patient received the defi nitive care before irreversible damage could occur.

Keeping her cool throughout this incident, Wagner calmly applied knowledge she had previously only studied in books to this harrowing real-life situation. “Tisha saved this patient’s life because of her devotion to providing excellence,” said Huber. “Throughout the entire ordeal, Tisha maintained her composure. She never left the patient’s side; providing information and reassurance that he so desperately needed.”

Wagner, who prides herself on fi nding and preventing problems as a nurse, was thrilled with the results. “I knew I had to be aggressive; it was clear something was just not right,” she said. “I was just thankful to have valuable resources like Gerry and my other colleagues from the cardiovascular service team at my fi ngertips for the additional assistance the patient needed.”

Huber and Wagner credit St. John’s Mercy not only for providing educational opportunities for nurses to excel, but for having a process in place for handling these situations. “If it weren’t for the cooperation and quick thinking from everyone on the cardiovascular service team, we might not have had the same results,” said Huber. “Thanks to St. John’s Mercy, we are happy to say that miracles like this are happening every day.”