More than 2,500 people with heart failure in the United States receive a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) each year. It is almost inevitable that you will encounter at least one LVAD patient, or more, during your career. In this talk, I will present a simplified explanation of what an LVAD does, how it works, and more importantly a simplified algorithm to follow that will help you correctly manage and treat the patient when things go awry.