Community | Mount Sinai Today

White Coat Event Inspires Nursing Students

Mar 19, 2019 | Community, Patient Stories

The Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel gave students white coats and a mission of compassionate care.

The Phillips School of Nursing at Mount Sinai Beth Israel recently held its second annual White Coat Ceremony for nursing students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The event, held on Tuesday, February 5, at Stern Auditorium, was designed to instill a commitment to providing compassionate care among the next generation of registered nurses.

The White Coat ceremony, long a rite of passage at medical schools, was introduced to nursing in 2014, said Elizabeth Cleek, PsyD, Chief Program Officer and Vice President of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a sponsor of the event. Dr. Cleek advised the students in the years ahead “to take that extra moment—despite the pressures, despite the new technologies that may hold some of the answers—to be fully present with the person or people in front of you.”

During the ceremony, each student was cloaked with a white coat provided by the School of Nursing and received a pin with a gold Mobius loop from the Gold Foundation that symbolizes the continuous bond of trust, respect, and communication that connects nurses with their patients.

“I leave you with this quote by Maya Angelou,” said the keynote speaker, Laly Joseph, DVM, DNP, APRN, Senior Associate Dean of the Phillips School of Nursing. “‘They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.’”

Todd F. Ambrosia, DNP, APRN, FNAP, Dean of the Phillips School of Nursing, closed the ceremony by reminding students that “while nursing is rooted in knowledge and evidence-based practice, it is equally rooted in caring for the whole person, and not just an illness.” He also encouraged them “to always care for yourselves and for each other.”

A Celebratory Reunion for Pediatric Patients

Mar 19, 2019 | Community, Patient Stories, Pediatrics

Pediatric cardiology patients enjoyed popcorn, cotton candy, and face-painting at the 33rd Annual Valentine’s Reunion Party held on Wednesday, February 13, in the Annenberg West Lobby.

The carnival-themed event brought children and their families together with the doctors, nurses, and medical staff who previously administered vital care.

Organized by the Children’s Heart Center—located within Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital and part of an alliance with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia—the festivities were also supported by the nonprofit organizations Project Sunshine, Harboring Hearts, and the Congenital Heart Defect Coalition.

“It is amazing to see the kids we take care of outside the clinical setting,” said Peter Pastuszko, MD, Co-Director of the Children’s Heart Center, and Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery and Director of Pediatric Cardiovascular Services for the Mount Sinai Health System. “We may see some patients only once or twice after they are discharged. Parties like this are the best chance to see the results of our care and what we have been able to give them. It is incredibly rewarding.”

Meriel Simpson, PA-C, Senior Physician Assistant, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, The Mount Sinai Hospital, with Olivia Malpica.

Peter Pastuszko, MD, with Miriam Pugo and her son Joel Vivar.

Children created their own slime at the event.

Keeping Healthy in Palm Beach, Florida

Mar 19, 2019 | Community

The Mount Sinai Health System teamed up with the Mirasol Foundation in Palm Beach County, Florida, to host the Gate-to-Gate Walk and Run, an energetic heart-healthy event held on Sunday, February 17. Mount Sinai serves this community with four practices offering specialty care in cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, primary care, and pulmonology.

A Lesson in Heart-Healthy Eating

Mar 19, 2019 | Community

From left: Annapoorna S. Kini, MD; Jane Maksoud, RN, MPA; and Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, MPH

Dozens of interested individuals stopped by a healthy-cooking demonstration in the Plaza Café on Thursday, February 28, during Heart Health Month.

Jane Maksoud, RN, MPA, Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Mount Sinai Health System; Annapoorna S. Kini, MD, the Zena and Michael A. Wiener Professor of Medicine and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, The Mount Sinai Hospital; and Mary Ann McLaughlin, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Cardiac Heart Program, Mount Sinai Health System, created tasty heart-healthy and plant-based meals.

Attendees sampled the selections and received a copy of the Mount Sinai Fit Cookbook –2018. Recipes are available online here.

Mount Sinai Innovation Showcase Nurtures Health Care Solutions

Mar 13, 2019 | Community, Featured, Hackathon

A panel of experts in life sciences and business evaluated presentations and offered feedback. From left: Sean Ianchulev, MD, MPH, Nishta Rao, Brent Stackhouse, Sara Barrington, and John Hammitt.

Teams of young innovators recently presented ideas on how to benefit patients to a panel of experts at the Mount Sinai Innovation Showcase. The event, hosted by Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP) with support from the SinaInnovations Committee and the Institutes for Translational Sciences (ConduITS), was held on Thursday, February 14, in Davis Auditorium.

The innovators, who came from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, SUNY Stony Brook, Cooper Union, and other New York institutions, included the three finalist teams and one wild-card entry from Mount Sinai’s Health Hackathon in October 2018. After sketching out solutions to address rare diseases at the Hackathon, the teams received coaching from MSIP and the eLabNYC mentoring program and learned how to merge product development with business strategy and improve their product based on consumer needs.

A diet-tracking app called Demeter was pitched by young innovators. From left: Alyssa Mango, Ryan Neff, and Leah Osnos.

Their projects included: Eye Can Do, a smartphone-based eye tracking technology for immobile patients; Walk Thru, a portable accessory for patients using a walker to facilitate getting through doors; Demeter, a smartphone application that provides diet tracking, management, and symptom assessment for patients of metabolic disorders; and Dormi, a tracking device to assess and monitor sleep patterns.

A panel of experts in life sciences and business fields offered feedback, including: Jim Heitner, Associate Director of the Mount Sinai i3 Accelerator; Nishta Rao, Director of Princeton Innovation Center BioLabs; John Hammitt, Executive Director of HITLAB Healthcare Innovation Lab; Sara Barrington, Chief Executive Officer of Cynvenio Biosystems Inc.; Sean Ianchulev, MD, MPH, Director of the Ophthalmic Innovation and Technology Program at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai; and Brent Stackhouse, Vice President of Mount Sinai Ambulatory Ventures.

The teams are now pursuing next steps by improving prototypes, initiating clinical studies, and continuing to work with MSIP. The showcase event reinforced Mount Sinai’s mission to provide exceptional patient care and clinical leadership by cultivating innovation through research. Mount Sinai engages MSIP to translate discoveries into products or services that benefit patients.

Front row, from left: Sean Ianchulev, MD, MPH, Director of the Ophthalmic Innovation and Technology Program at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai; Sara Barrington, Chief Executive Officer of Cynvenio Biosystems Inc.; and John Hammitt, Executive Director of HITLAB Healthcare Innovation Lab. Back row, from left: Jim Heitner, Associate Director of the Mount Sinai i3 Accelerator; Nishta Rao, Director of Princeton Innovation Center BioLabs; Cynthia Cleto, Associate Director, Marketing and Outreach at MSIP; and Brent Stackhouse, Vice President of Mount Sinai Ambulatory Ventures.

Opening of the New Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai West

Mar 5, 2019 | Community

From left: Margaret Grogan, MPA, BSN, RN, Director, Maternal Child Health Nursing, Mount Sinai West; Evan Flatow, MD, President, Mount Sinai West; Lisa M. Satlin, MD, Chair, Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Health System; Lisa Eiland, MD; and Leonora Yaun, MA, RN, CLC, Nurse Manager, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

After a 14-month renovation project, Mount Sinai West celebrated the opening of its vastly expanded neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, February 6. The NICU—which now occupies 14,000-square-feet of space, a 60 percent increase from its previous size—features 32 patient bays, offering families a bright, comforting environment to spend time with their newborns.

The NICU also has two isolation rooms and a “nesting room” with overnight accommodations for parents who wish to stay with their infants. “This expansion demonstrates our continued commitment to providing the best maternal child health patient experience for New Yorkers,”says Lisa Eiland, MD, Director of Newborn Medicine and Pediatrics at Mount Sinai West.