Teams and people are at the heart of what Lisa Von Wald, BSN, CNP, MSN loves most about her career as a nurse practitioner who helps treat patients with heart-related needs.
Specifically, she works in cardiac electrophysiology at the M Health Fairview University of Minnesota Medical Center hospital and clinic, where she leads a team that helps patients with heart issues.
Lisa didn’t imagine herself in this kind of career when she was growing up. She didn’t even see herself in nursing or healthcare at all– that was until she saw how nursing and patient care create connections with others when she visited a family member in a nursing facility as a teenager.
“I became influenced by that experience and how unique and special the field was. I decided that I wanted to do nursing and healthcare,” she remembers, adding, “With that experience, I made that decision that's what I wanted to do.”
She never looked back, only ahead
After completing her undergraduate degree in nursing in 2007, she started as a cardiology nurse at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
In her first few months as a new nurse, she cared for a patient who was born with congenital heart issues. “She was born with this and has had implications from this her whole life,” Lisa says.
After a significant operation, Lisa says she was this patient’s nurse and helped the patient overcome difficulties in the recovery. “We developed a real connection, one that was different from the other kinds of settings I had worked in,” she explains.
“This was exactly why I wanted to be a nurse and in healthcare.”
As Lisa continued to plot her career, she made plans soon after to attend graduate school to become a nurse practitioner.
A new horizon
After completing graduate school, she took a job in cardiac electrophysiology, and that’s where she’s worked ever since. Here, she helps treat and care for patients with heart rhythm issues to keep their hearts beating correctly.
“We work in both the hospital and clinic. In the hospital, we see all the pre- and post- procedure patients, help get them all tuned up and make sure that they have all of the right education. We get to be that nice consistent friendly face that's seeing them before and then after their procedure. We also do all the hospital consults,” she says.
In fact, Lisa or one of her teammates are probably one of the first faces a patient with a heart rhythm issue may see when they come to the hospital or emergency room. For patients with chronic heart conditions, Lisa will see them in the clinic and help them keep feeling well.
“It’s nice to see the patients on the other side of being hospitalized or after having a procedure, because you get to have a more long-term relationship with them when you see them in clinic at different time intervals.”
Not long after Lisa joined the cardiac electrophysiology team as a nurse practitioner, a familiar face walked in.
“The congenital patient I had really connected with when I first started as a bedside nurse came in, and she remembered me from all those years prior and mentioned the impact I had on her,” Lisa says.
“Now I was caring for her as a provider. It was a nice reunion and special moment to see the relationship come full circle. What a joy and gift it is to walk alongside our patients throughout their healthcare needs and through many phases of life.”
Lisa also leads a group of 18 cardiology advanced practice providers at M Health Fairview. This is one of the things Lisa also loves about her career too, where she is proud of all her colleagues and team members.
There are so many subspecialties within the group, but she feels that it is paramount to make sure everyone knows that they are on one team, working together to help the patients they care for.
As she keeps looking ahead, Lisa is excited to continue growing and welcoming new members to her team– and continue connecting and reconnecting with patients along the way.