Andrea Dryden, APRN-CNP, specializes in critical care in the cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) at Oklahoma Heart Institute (OHI). Her reminder to patients is, “Every day is the first day of the rest of your lives and it is never too late to start working on a heart healthy lifestyle.”

When it comes to building relationships with patients, she finds it most important to take the time and listen. “Most of the time, just letting patients talk about their symptoms and concerns will help identify the problem that needs to be addressed. A close second is the importance of educating my patients and their families so that they better understand why and what they are facing with their diagnoses.”

Pursuing a career in nursing was an easy decision to make for Andrea. She was the oldest of all her siblings and always enjoyed helping to take care of her siblings. She said, “I feel like health care chose me, I didn't have siblings until I was about 8 years old and nurturing and caring for them was a big part of my life after that. It just seemed like health care was a natural option for me.”

Andrea has always been interested in the cardiovascular system, so specializing in this was an obvious choice.

When she’s not working, Andrea enjoys spending time with her family, being outdoors and watching her kids stay active in sports.

Her professional area of interest is acute cardiac care and the management of cardiovascular disease processes.