Bedside Matters
A Forum for Frontline Health Care Specialists
Contact Hours Offered
About Our Program
Frontline workers deal with difficult personal and emotional issues alongside administrative constraints that may impact time spent with patients.
Bedside Matters is a safe forum to openly discuss thought-provoking topical events and the social and emotional issues that often arise in caring for patients and families. The goals of the forum are to strengthen relationships between patients and caregivers and help preserve the human connection in health care.
We begin with each session with a VUMC patient case. After review, a panel of interdisciplinary health care workers provides their unique perspectives. We then open the discussion to our audience to ask questions and share their experiences.
We ask that all participants have an open mind, share honestly and be respectful when opinions vary from their own.
Virtual events are held the third Wednesday of every month from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
We look forward to your participation!
Suggestion for Bedside Matters?
Our programs include discussion of patients and situations arising from all entities across VUMC. If you are interested in suggesting or presenting a topic and/or participating as a panel member, please email: Dr. Walter Merrill
Contact Us
Contact Hour or registration questions?
Contact Hour Accreditation Statement If Contact Hours lists TBD: |
October Bedside Matters
Black-and-White Decision-Making in a Gray World: Determining When a Life-Saving Path Is No Longer Possible
A middle-aged woman with ischemic cardiomyopathy presented to an outside hospital with decompensated heart failure and a course complicated by cardiac arrest requiring ~45 minutes of CPR and ECMO support before achieving stability. She was transferred to VUMC for consideration of transplant. Given her profound debilitation, the only path to heart transplantation was prehab, involving a transition from ECMO to axillary biventricular support, while undergoing expedited transplant workup. Unfortunately, she developed an ischemic leg as a complication of the initial ECMO cannulation, and with this added to all her other comorbidities, she was declined for transplant. She was still cognitively intact, making this decision and discussions with the patient and family particularly challenging.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
12:00 p.m.
Via Teams
Panelists
- Casey Ireland, MD Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant attending
- Christina Jelly, MD CVICU attending
- Alexis Foltz, APN CVICU NP
- Kaushik Amancherla, MD Advanced Heart Failure/Transplant attending
- Zack Watson, MD Palliative Care attending