I want to honor our night shift employees this week. The work they do inspires me and so many in our MSBI family.
The night staff pays special attention to the needs of our patients who can become lonely or agitated at night. One patient on 10 Silver during the COVID-19 surge praised Steven Pyram, RN, (see photo below) for sitting with her at night when she had tremors, describing it as her scariest moment in the hospital. She said Steven was attentive and kept her calm. This is just one example of how our night shift employees regularly go above and beyond.
Richard Spatafora, RN, worked as a night time supervisor and is now a part of our nursing education team. He eloquently explained the agility and teamwork he saw when working with our night staff.
“With less support than the daytime shift, the teams on each unit at night are incredibly resourceful and creative. They rely on each other in a distinctive way. There’s a united and cohesive teamwork that keeps me in awe of them,” Richard said (see photo below).
This is so true. Though many of us don’t get to see this magic daily, I want the night shift to know that their work does not go unnoticed.
Richard is an MSBI “boomerang employee,” meaning he came back to MSBI after leaving. He is a graduate of the Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai and then worked 10 years in the MSBI ICU. He left briefly for a job in consulting, but he missed clinical care and direct connection with patients.
He returned earlier this year to help with all of the transition we’ve seen at MSBI in the past few years.
“I missed the heart of this organization, and I felt I could use my strengths to support people through the important work MSBI is doing. My goal is to make every week, every shift, every hour better for our dedicated nurses,” he said.
We are so glad to have him back.
Click below to see many photos of our stellar night staff team.
