Ochsner Magazine: Feb/March 2022

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Mending Hearts and Minds Ochsner’s Heart Failure Transitional Care Clinic is empowering patients to take control of their health at home By Olivia Watson | Photos: Staci Brimer

When Rosalie Pietri began experiencing shortness of breath in November 2021, she assumed it was a side effect from one of her heart medications. Her doctor was aware of her existing heart condition, so they kept a watchful eye over her symptoms. But as her breathing worsened over the next few months, life became unmanageable. “I couldn’t walk from the front of my house to the back without taking a break,” Rosalie explained. “I couldn’t breathe. When I contacted my cardiologist, he decided I should go to the emergency room right away.” When she arrived at Ochsner Medical

Center - New Orleans, relief set in immediately. “From the minute I got there, the nurse in the emergency room assured me that everything would be okay. It was like I was the most important patient they had at the time.” Upon arrival, Rosalie received a blood and iron transfusion because of her anemia. She stayed overnight in the hospital, surrounded by her devoted team. “I don’t know where I could have received better care,” she said. Rosalie was diagnosed with heart failure, and entered Ochsner’s Heart Failure Transitional Care Clinic. After consulting with doctors and adjusting her

medications, she was cleared to go home if she felt comfortable.

Ochsner’s Heart Failure Transitional Care Clinic Designed to reduce hospital readmissions, the four-to-six week care clinic gives patients living with heart failure the tools and knowledge they need to manage their chronic illness and make smart choices on a daily basis. “Before I left the hospital, I was given a blood pressure cuff and symptom tracker, a pamphlet about the program and a phone number I could call at any time,” Rosalie explained. “They told me to expect a call from them in 46-72 hours.” To say this eased the transition from hospital to home was an understatement. “In the hospital, you feel safe and reassured that everything is going to be okay. But then all of a sudden you’re at home, alone, with lots of questions,” she said. “It was wonderful to know the team at Ochsner was only a phone call away.”

Empowering patients with tools and education

Rosalie Pietri, a graduate of the Heart Failure Clinic program, with her daughter Lisa Marcello.

To see Rosalie in her own words, please scan this code to watch a video. 14

February/March 2022

One of the greatest resources patients get from the clinic is its staff, and particularly Lisa Tichenor, a registered heart failure nurse who helped to launch the Heart Failure Transitional Care Clinic in October 2021. Lisa brings over 10 years of experience working with advanced heart failure patients to the program. “Our patients are dealing with physically


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