It was a normal day for Donna Ward as she went to the Capital Health Hamilton Campus to start her day stress-testing patients.

She began a nuclear stress test with the EKG technician and RN in the room and the patient did well, completed the test, and went into the recovery phase. Pretty routine, however as the recovery phase went on, the patient began to become symptomatic and complained of “I’m just not feeling good” and completely lost consciousness. The patient went into vfib arrest and Donna went into high gear. Her clinical skills were outstanding in an office setting and ran the code like a pro. It is very rare, to say the least of having a situation like this and the patient was sent to Hopewell and had an emergent cardiac catheterization and received stents. We had a wonderful ending and the patient's life was saved due to her quick thinking.

After, Donna needed to console staff and all the outpatients that witnessed this event and was able to resume the day. Thereafter, she drove to the hospital on her own accord and made sure the patient had all his belongings and to visited him. The outcome was a happy one and I cannot thank her leadership skills enough. She truly needs to be recognized and Capital Health should be proud of the work the nurse practitioners do.