In 1982, Michael Jackson released “Thriller,” Commodore 64 introduced its 8-bit home computer and Theresa Witt began working as a nurse at Mercy Hospital Springfield.
In over 34 years, Witt has cared for thousands of patients across the Ozarks and been part of hundreds of health care teams. For the past two years, she’s served Mercy as its ventricular assist device coordinator.
“There are less than 50 health centers in the United States that provide destination therapy for patients with left ventricular assist devices, and Mercy is one of them,” Witt says, adding patients previously traveled to Kansas City or St. Louis for the specialized care. “Being part of the team that helped bring this life-changing therapy to the Ozarks has been very rewarding.”
Destination therapy, she says, provides VAD patients dependent on their heart pumps with a last chance to survive heart failure.
“My role on the VAD team is to coordinate care for patients and their caregivers living with this partially implanted heart pump,” Witt says, noting she is on call 24/7. “Educating patients and their caregivers, health care professionals and the community is also part of my job. This is cutting-edge technology and new to our area providers, so helping paramedics, nurses, therapists and physicians learn how the device works and how to care for VAD patients when they go home to anywhere within 100 miles radius is a lot of teaching.”
Before being named VAD coordinator, Witt worked for nine years as a clinical nurse specialist at Mercy Clinic Cardiac Thoracic and Vascular Surgery. She also has served the hospital as a staff nurse at the endocrinology center, an instructor for Mercy’s school of nursing and as a case management supervisor in the utilization-management department. In 1994, she earned her master’s degree in nursing from the University of Kansas Medical Center, and in 1995, the American Nurses Credentialing Center designated Witt a board certified clinical nurse specialist. Every year since 1995, she has received the advanced practice nurse recognition from the Missouri State Board of Nursing.
Much of her job, she says, centers on earning the trust of those with whom she works. And, according to Witt, trust is earned by demonstrating care.
“Leading others as they make choices about their health and being present for the consequences is nothing short of bittersweet. I have lifted patients twice my size and carried a mother from the bedside of her dead son,” Witt says. “Many times I have been the one picked up with encouragement (from colleagues) and moved to tears witnessing the devotion of family members.”
For Witt, success on the job comes in many forms, such as helping a heart patient celebrate another birthday or securing funding from administrators for a much-needed position.
“Helping patients heal physically, psychologically and spiritually recharges my batteries and keeps me coming back for more each day,” Witt says.
