Cristina Valdez, ACNP-BC

Cristina (Tina) was hired as the first Advanced Practice Provider (APP) for AHS’ Morristown Medical Center Cardiac Cath Lab in 2023, a position that has revolutionized the Cath Lab’s workflow. Morristown's cath lab has remained the highest volume lab in New Jersey, averaging about ~7500 coronary cases a year. Tina has been an integral part of pre-procedural and peri-operative care and facilitating STEMIs.

Tina has been an APP since 2018 and previously held a position in the Heart and Vascular Institute of Central Jersey, where she treated patients with acute and chronic cardiac diseases. She has 10 years of experience in the cath lab setting, first as a nurse and charge nurse and now as an APP. Tina also spent 4 years as a Critical Care Nurse in the ICU, CCU, and IMCU.

Tina holds a master’s degree in nursing and is certified as AGAC-NP and Adult Critical Care Nursing (CCRN) through the American Association for Critical Care Nurses (AACN). Tina was recently invited to the Women in Cardiovascular Medicine conference in Boston, where only a select few cardiac APPs were invited to attend. She is often the code leader in code blue situations allowing the interventionalist to focus on stabilizing the patient. She is a certified Cath Lab trainer for Emergency Advanced Resuscitation (CLEAR), a Cath Lab specific protocol for treating emergencies. In addition to CLEAR training Tina is a mentor to staff and provides ongoing education for the multidisciplinary cath lab staff, she participates in Journal Club and case study reviews.