Mary Ellen Pritchard is presently a Nurse Educator for UPMC Shadyside specializing in Orthopaedics and Med-Surg. She covers 4 units and the float pool in her capacity. Mary Ellen is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she received her MSN as a Clinical Nurse Leader. Mary Ellen was diagnosed with a paraganglioma in 2002 and since that time has done extensive research into the disease. She has directed 33 family members along the path of testing, acceptance, screening and surgery. She wants to bring to light the significance of this disease to Med-Surg nurses because we are the advocates for our patients.