A former patient stopped by West Hospital hoping to speak with Tara Schindler, a Cardiac Stress RN, who cared for this patient a couple of months ago.

Here's the story... Tara greeted the patient in the waiting room and while escorting her back to the "stress room", Tara noticed that the patient was very short of breath. After assessing the patient, Tara contacted the patient's PCP and suggested the patient be sent to the ED. The PCP agreed. The patient was very reluctant to go to the ED but eventually agreed because of Tara's persistence. The patient ended up being admitted and scheduled for a cardiac cath. The cardiac cath was abnormal, which resulted in a four vessel CABG. The patient returned to West on Tuesday to thank Tara for her being such a great patient advocate. The patient said, "Without Tara's assessment and persistence, she wouldn't be here today. Tara saved my life."