Hi, my name is Christine Teittinen, RN, and lead nurse at Tahoe Forest Health System. In cardiac rehab, we have a robust cardiac rehab program at the hospital. Patients are referred to us when they have a heart event. A heart event could be a heart attack, a valve repair, open heart surgery, a coronary artery bypass graft, or a lung-heart transplant.
Our patients go through a 12-week program. They have 18 weeks to complete a 12-week program, and it is intensive. It is three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. That involves an hour of exercise where they are on a cardiac monitor. We have a nurse, myself or my PRN nurse, monitoring their heart rate and rhythm while they are exercising and managing how they are looking and how they are feeling. We also have an exercise physiologist who runs them through a variety of cardio and strength training apparatuses.
The other part of our program is our patients go through an education class in addition to the exercise. So, three days a week, they are getting a ton of information about heart-healthy nutrition, healthy mindset, and exercises they can do on their own outside of cardiac rehab.
They have a ton of fun. They have a community of people they can share their fears with, their experiences, and just have that feeling of not being alone. I feel so grateful to have this job. I get to watch people get better. I get to see people’s enthusiasm for life and their willingness to keep on going and live the best life they possibly can.
Again, my name is Christine. I am the lead nurse in cardiac rehab. Thank you so much for joining me.
