Shirley worked in nursing for a quarter-century, but her professional expertise hasn't kept her healthy.
In October, the 63-year-old native of Raleigh, North Carolina, was hospitalized for a fall and learned she was at risk of congestive heart failure – her blood pressure was "in the roof," she says. She stayed in the hospital about two weeks.
"I was in bad shape," says Shirley, who also has diabetes, vision problems and weighed about 225 pounds at the time. She asked that U.S. News not divulge her last name to protect her privacy. "I couldn't hardly walk, couldn't hardly do nothing, couldn't hardly think."
That stint in the hospital put her on the radar of Wake County's Advanced Practice Paramedic program, which seeks to reduce preventable emergency room visits by sending emergency medical service personnel to provide some health care services in patients' homes.
