Her children’s life-threatening diagnoses shattered her world and later inspired her to pursue nursing. It took 10 years, but Empower Scholarship recipient Viviana Tabares-Ellertson never wavered.
In 2005, when her oldest son, Christian, was just four months old, Viviana Tabares-Ellertson, BSN ’23, heard the words no parent ever expects:
Your baby needs a heart transplant.
“There was no family history, nothing that would’ve made us think anything was wrong,” she says. “His diagnosis was idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, which basically meant, ‘we don’t know why this happened.’”
After spending six of his first eight months in a coma, Christian underwent the lifesaving procedure.
Tabares-Ellertson was only 23 at the time. The experience reshaped her identity.
Lost, Dismissed, Overwhelmed
She and her husband, both from engineering backgrounds, found themselves unprepared for the world they were suddenly forced into.
She remembers the number vividly: Christian’s first year of transplant care cost $12.5 million. In the essay that earned her the Empower Scholarship Fund’s Fred and Kay Krehbiel Nursing Scholarship for Chamberlain University students, she wrote about how those experiences shaped her approach to healthcare. From her essay:
“With the rising costs of medical care, there was a point I could not afford to get medications or put food on the table, and I had to choose between the two. I learned about patient assistance programs, especially for specialty drugs. They became my best friend as a struggling mom.”
A Second Diagnosis, A Deeper Devastation
Tabares-Ellertson’s younger son, Christopher, was born in 2012. Three weeks into his life, the unimaginable happened again—he was diagnosed with the same heart condition as his older brother.
“They had told us it was a one-in-a-million kind of diagnosis,” she says. “So, when it happened again, they started looking at genetics.”
Both boys were found to have a rare SCN5A genetic mutation. Her husband was found to carry the mutation, explaining his own lifelong issues with immunity.
“His mutation manifested as bone marrow issues. He has chronic neutropenia and leukopenia, so his body was not producing white blood cells like a normal person. He was constantly sick with respiratory infections like pneumonia and bronchitis, but we didn't know what was contributing to it.”
Christopher received his heart transplant, and it was challenging all over again. “Emotionally, financially, it felt like we were back in that same nightmare.”
The Long Road to a Nursing Degree at Chamberlain
Unable to return to work, Tabares-Ellertson became a stay-at-home mom. But in her quiet hours, something stirred. She started taking one class at a time at a local community college in Los Angeles—biology, anatomy, medical terminology. “I just wanted to understand what was happening to my boys,” she says.
When she returned to work, she left engineering and followed her newfound passion for healthcare to an oncology clinic as a receptionist. She started helping patients apply for medication assistance programs like she had learned to navigate herself during Christian's earlier treatment.
She began applying to nursing programs near the family’s home in Los Angeles and was rejected seven times. Then the pandemic hit in early 2020, and she got the call that a spot had opened in Florida due to COVID-related dropouts.
She began nursing school that summer, attending virtually while her sons relocated with her husband to Indianapolis for his work. Later that year, she applied to Chamberlain’s Indianapolis campus, which accepted nearly all her prior credits. The eight-week sessions and clinical flexibility allowed her to balance caregiving and coursework.
“Chamberlain’s structure worked with my life.”
Empowered by Purpose and Perseverance
Tabares-Ellertson threw herself into nursing school at Chamberlain. She became a student leader and participated in Chamberlain’s perioperative certification course through the Practice Ready. Specialty Focused.™ program. In her final year, she received the Empower Scholarship, which helped ease the financial burden.
“The Empower Scholarship meant I didn’t have to work full time while in school. I could be present for my kids and still succeed.”
Since 2016, the Empower Scholarship Fund has offered over 3,000 scholarships totaling more than $5.7 million.
Beginning with her first community college course, it took Tabares-Ellertson almost 10 years to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She graduated in 2023.
Coming Full-Circle as a Nurse and Advocate
Today, Tabares-Ellertson works as a psychiatric nurse at a large medical facility in Indianapolis and leverages her perioperative certificate to work part-time with surgical patients at a local hospital.
She’s been honored with a DAISY Award for extraordinary nurses. For her, the recognition is personal.
“When I was in those hospital rooms as a mom, I had caregivers who made me feel lesser than. I never want anyone to feel that way again.”
Read more from Bonnie Barnes, DAISY Foundation co-founder, on How Adtalem Adds to Nursing Care.
She connects with patients eye-to-eye, sitting bedside rather than standing over them. Former patients knock on the window of her unit just to wave hello. “Sometimes it’s just a look or a smile, but I can feel when they’re at peace. That means everything to me. I know I’ve made a difference.”
Christian and Christopher are both doing well. The week of this article’s publishing is the 20th anniversary of Christian’s transplant; Christopher recently hit 12 years. Against all odds, their hearts are still strong.
“We were told organs usually last 10 to 14 years,” she says. “We’ve far exceeded that. We’ve been so blessed.”
Tabares-Ellertson is exploring graduate programs in mental health, leadership and education. She hasn’t decided which path yet, but one thing is certain: she’s not done.
From nurses to mental health specialists, learn how graduates from Adtalem’s institutions turn their educations into Degrees of Impact.
For more information, email the Adtalem Global Communications Team: adtalemmedia@adtalem.com.
