Caring for the Community: Jill Goldstein, RN, MA, MS, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer of Mount Sinai Queens

“I love working in a true community-focused environment,” says Jill Goldstein, RN, MA, MS, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer of Mount Sinai Queens.

Jill Goldstein, RN, MA, MS, is all about community. As the nurse leader at Mount Sinai Queens, she oversees a 225-licensed-bed hospital that provides care to the surrounding neighborhoods of western Queens. She directs and supports her team of round-the-clock nursing and support staff. And she is a passionate disruptor of the too-easily-accepted limitations that contribute to the creation of far-reaching social barriers.

“I love working in a true community-focused environment,” says Ms. Goldstein, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer of Mount Sinai Queens. “We operate under one license and share the same policies with The Mount Sinai Hospital, so Mount Sinai Queens is the community complement to their quaternary setting.”

Ms. Goldstein sees this as her hospital’s superpower. “Nearly 70 percent of our hospital staff live and work among the people they see as patients. We have a strong connection to our community that’s palpable. It’s deep, and it’s real,” she says. “We take care of the same people we see in the grocery store and the bank. This, combined with the size of the hospital itself, makes it a place where people know one another’s name. There’s a familiarity here that connects us to our work in a very meaningful and caring way, the ‘Mount Sinai Queens Way.’”

This sense of caring for ourselves and our patients, families, clinical colleagues, care team members, and local and global communities is embedded into the culture of Mount Sinai Queens nursing via the professional practice model of Relationship-Centered Care.

“This is something I’m really proud of,” says Ms. Goldstein, “an example of which I call ‘Rising Stars.’ We have about two dozen-plus nurses who started their careers in non-nursing roles, such as housekeeping, dietary, or unit clerks. Each studied and worked their way through school and subsequently up through various positions to become a registered nurse. They are incredibly inspiring, and it is the gift that keeps on giving with a better than 90 percent retention rate.”

“It’s an understatement when we say that it takes a village to become a nurse,” she says. “The Rising Stars pathway speaks to how our staff assist the different members of our hospital community, how they help them rise. They surround these individuals with encouragement to get through school, to become a better version of themselves, enabling them to improve their livelihood. It’s just amazing. And it’s part of why we see staff enjoying nursing careers here that span 10, 20, 30, and 40 years.”

It is also this sense of teamwork and community that contributes to the hospital being Magnet® designated by the American Nurses Credentialing Center since 2014, the longest continuous designation of any hospital in Queens. Magnet designation is the highest available recognition of nursing excellence, achieved by only 10 percent of hospitals in the United States.

Mount Sinai recently announced that Mount Sinai Queens earned its third consecutive Magnet Recognition®. Click here to read more about the news. “I am so very proud of our nurses for this incredible achievement,” says Ms. Goldstein. “This redesignation is a tribute to our entire nursing staff and support teams, and it perfectly demonstrates their empowerment and commitment to nursing excellence.”

“Magnet® designation represents an interdisciplinary team supporting nurses to do their best work, to have optimum outcomes for patients, and to advance the delivery of care through purposeful process improvements,” says Ms. Goldstein. “The nursing leaders and their teams focus on a journey of continuous progress versus perfection. And our Magnet Champions and their respective unit practice councils bring voice to practice and drive optimum bedside care through their shared decision-making to truly create excellence together.”

Affecting the Broader Community

Among her many responsibilities, Ms. Goldstein is perhaps most passionate about her efforts to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, both within and beyond the hospital’s walls. “I firmly believe that everything we do needs to be threaded through this work,” says Ms. Goldstein. “Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are the foundation for everything we are trying to accomplish.”

In 2020, Ms. Goldstein experienced an “aha moment” after reading the book White Fragility, assigned reading for a Mount Sinai Health System C-suite meeting. “I was deeply upset by what I read. I had a true awakening. How could I have known so little about this issue? This is when I knew that I had to act. I had to be part of something bigger. I had to throw myself into places where I may have never seen myself and learn, learn, learn, and then take those learnings and pay it forward by doing something.” This was a very personal goal.

And there is plenty of work to be done. According to the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing, 63 percent of nurses surveyed said they personally experienced an act of racism in the workplace. More than 50 percent said that racism in the workplace has affected their professional well-being. “This is unacceptable, and I’m determined to do be a disruptor in that world,” says Ms. Goldstein.

And disrupt she has.

“I got involved in a space I knew nothing about. I just inserted myself, listened more, read more, joined more, raised my hand more. I don’t always know what I’m talking about, but I do know that I’m very intentional about listening, learning, and leveraging my role to make a difference.”

Two years ago, Ms. Goldstein and colleagues started a systemwide council called Nurses Against Racism (NAR). “Nurses comprise the largest segment of the hospital workforce and are at the bedside 24/7,” she says, “and while we know racist behaviors toward nurses are prevalent, these issues can easily get swept under the rug. We want to create safe space for nurses to share their stories, their pain, their success.” Today, each entity within Mount Sinai Health System sponsors a local branch of NAR—also known as an employee resource group—that offers a safe space to share, listen to one another, and have difficult conversations.

The work of NAR also prompted the formation of a subcommittee to advance equity through quality measurement. “Alongside colleagues from the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, we embarked on a deep analytical data dive, initially looking at systemwide hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI). A detailed review revealed that patients with a preferred language other than Spanish or English were at a 40 percent higher risk for HAPI than English-speaking patients. A team is in the process of confirming that practices related to HAPIs are consistent hospital-wide and engaging front-line clinical nurses to develop tests of change for improvement.

Ms. Goldstein has also been active in promoting the Health System’s Policy 130, which expressly empowers and supports nurses and other staff to speak up and directly address acts of racism and discrimination.

In collaboration with the Office of Patient Experience, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, and NAR, the Health System developed a first-of-its-kind pocket card with tips to guide nursing staff through these challenging encounters. “It’s about immediate escalation to leadership for support, zero tolerance, and de-escalating skills. Nurses agree that seven or eight times out of 10, the approach will be effective,” she says, “and when nurses share a story of when they or a leader used the policy, and it worked, those are our victories. And when it doesn’t work, we talk about it, learn from the experience, and bring that knowledge forward to take action.”

She adds, “I am determined to help make a very real and lasting difference. We have to.”

Pathway to Leadership

Ms. Goldstein moved into a leadership position relatively early in her career, and has not looked back.

A health care veteran with more than 38 years of tertiary hospital and home health care services experience, Ms. Goldstein brings a legacy of leading and delivering innovative, influential, and celebrated programs and clinical services. She has been a catalyst for change with a proven ability to drive quality improvement, fiscal fitness, patient-centered care, and lead teams to achieve positive patient experiences.

As the nurse leader at Mount Sinai Queens, Ms. Goldstein leads a nursing staff of more than 400, overseeing nursing practice, education, quality, and safety of care. She is one of many critical players in maintaining the hospital’s Magnet® designation. She is also a key player in the development and implementation of hospital-wide performance improvement programs.

Prior to joining Mount Sinai Queens, Ms. Goldstein was a vice president of operations at the Visiting Nurse Service. She is a Fellow of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse program, and she holds a Master of Science in Health Services Management and a Master of Arts in Nursing Administration from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Ms. Goldstein is a member of the American Organization of Nurse Executives and past president of the Greater New York Nassau Suffolk Organization for Nursing Leadership, the American Nurses Association, and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. In her spare time, you can find her in Aruba—her “happy place” for the last 20+ years—or with a pair of binoculars studying avian life near and far.

Congratulations to the 2024 Mount Sinai Emergency Nurse Awardees

The Mount Sinai Department of Emergency Medicine recently hosted the annual Emergency Nurses Award Ceremony, celebrating 43 team members across six categories.

In harmony with the Emergency Nurses Association’s Emergency Nurses Week theme, awardees were voted for by their team and represent the “Shimmer and Shine,” the brightest stars among their peers and leaders in emergency care.  The event was held Wednesday, October 9.

Emergency Nurses Week is celebrated annually during the second week of October.

Rookie of the Year Award: The recipient for this category has eighteen months of less experience working in the Emergency Department and consistently displays confidence, initiative, and high potential in providing clinical care and contributing to the team’s success. From left: Brittany Horsford, RN; Eric Gunther, RN; Francesca Ferri, RN; Nataniel Fazilov, RN; Yvette Williamson, RN; Anthony Duncan, MBA, BSN, RN; Samantha Rodriguez, RN; Edward Joseph, RN.

 

Preceptor of the Year Award: The recipient for this category serves as a resource and mentor for team members and new hires by sharing knowledge and skills and exemplifying best practices in providing care to our community of patients. From left: Romina Condo, RN; Tracey Plaskett, RN; Tamar Cohen, RN; Geraldine Millington, RN; Daya Manmadhan, MSN, MHA, RN; Lauren McArdle, RN; James Hoeft, RN;;Sasha Stoney, RN.

 

Support Staff Member of the Year Award: The recipient for this category demonstrates support of and collaboration with Nursing staff through effective team-work, clear communication, focus on patient safety and enhancing the overall experience for patients and families.From left: Ilana Ortiz, PCA; Tyson Theogene, ERT; Gabriel Abreu, ERT; Jeofrey Gacad, UC; Allison Prince, PCA; Sabrina Jackson, RN accepting on behalf of Iesha Frazier, EDT; Debbie Hendrickson, PCA.

 

Resilience and Wellness Award: The recipient for this category serves as a role model for resilience and wellness by exemplifying healthy habits and lifestyle, also helps to promote Mount Sinai resiliency resources and engages others in healthy habits.From left: Judy Louie, RN; Shelly Ann Culzac, RN; Cathy Diaz, RN; Shirley Liu, RN; Talitha Nix, RN; Katrina Serrano, RN; Staci Madison, RN; Shari Weisburd, RN, BSN.

 

Emergency Department Clinical Nurse of the Year: The recipient for this category is a staff nurse who adheres to nursing standards of practice, consistently demonstrates exceptional patient care and professionalism. This nurse helps facilitate positive team engagement and high-quality patient outcomes.From left: Ledjan Halollari, MSN, RN; Tanya Murray, RN; Ophelia Beckford, RN; John Carlo Sahagun, RN; Lillibeth Pansoy, RN; Francena Bryan, RN; Yasmina Garcia, RN; Mary Anne Blanco, RN; Marlo Meehan, RN.

 

Emergency Department Nurse Leader of the Year: The recipient for this category demonstrates excellent leadership skills by serving as a resource through effective communication, working to inspire passion, and promoting professional development. This leader motivates, supports, and creates a high-performance culture for the team. From left: Kayla Buonadonna, Assistant Nurse Manager; Stephanie Rivera, Assistant Nurse Manager; Francelia Thomas, Nurse Manager; Casey Scott, Charge Nurse; Stefania Chiulli, Nurse Manager; Lauren Cain, Assistant Nurse Manager; Jill Frick, DNP, RN, CEN.

 

Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing Marks Its 120th Anniversary and Its Commitment to Serving Society’s Need for Nurses

From left: Anne Ehrenkranz, Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, and Kimberly Glassman, PhD, RN, FAAN

A joyful celebration of the 120th anniversary of the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing took place on Wednesday, October 9.

The event, held at the school campus in East Harlem, was attended by senior leaders from Mount Sinai, including Brendan Carr, MD, MA, MS, Chief Executive Officer and Professor and Kenneth L. Davis, MD, Distinguished Chair, Mount Sinai Health System; Dennis Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System; David Reich, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Mount Sinai Health System, and President, The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens; and Beth Oliver DNP, RN, FAAN, Chief Nurse Executive, Senior Vice President, Cardiac Services, Mount Sinai Health System. Also in attendance were faculty and alumni and several students who provided tours to the guests, highlighting classrooms, study areas, and a state-of-the-art clinical simulation center.

Kimberly Glassman, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean, Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, spoke eloquently about what makes the school so special.

“The Phillips School of Nursing can take enormous pride in its 120-year commitment to proactively responding to society’s urgent need for caring, knowledgeable, and skilled nursing professionals from all walks of life; to using and developing evidence-based research as the foundation for contemporary education and clinical practice; and to its leadership in nursing education,” she said. “Students graduate from our program ready to practice and willing to serve.”

Dr. Glassman added, “We are the only hospital-based nursing program in New York State that grants a bachelor’s degree. That is a very unique and important distinction. Unlike most nursing schools, which are embedded within colleges and universities, we have an integral connection as the academic partner to the entirety of the Mount Sinai Health System. This natural tie-in provides direct access to the vast resources across the Health System—all of the hospitals, all of the hundreds of community-based ambulatory clinics, all of which provide a rich, invaluable, real-world learning environment for every one of our students.”

Dr. Glassman noted the importance of the school’s location. “Because we are situated in East Harlem, a community that needs nurses, our nursing students have the chance to gain experience and practice in an underserved community, paying forward an opportunity to address persistent inequities in health care,” she said.

Dr. Glassman spoke about an exciting future for the school. “We have been approved to offer graduate programs, which means we not only will confer bachelor’s degrees, but also an opportunity for those alums to return to pursue a master’s degree as advanced practice nurses or nurse practitioners.”

The 75 guests in attendance watched a video that featured faculty, students and alumni and reflected the unique attributes noted by Dr. Glassman. A second video, featuring Janet Green, Chair of the Board and great great granddaughter of its founder, provided a brief history of the school with archival photos.

Nurse Solves Mystery of a Patient Without ID

Elizabeth Sierra, RN

In August 2024, a man who had passed out on a Manhattan street was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Morningside. He had no identification and appeared to be deaf and unable to communicate, so the team on 9 East, the unit where he was admitted, cared for him while making every effort to find out who he was.

For several days, their efforts were futile. The patient experienced seizures, mumbled when he spoke, and was aggressive at times. But Elizabeth Sierra, RN, Assistant Nursing Care Coordinator on the unit, persevered. She entered “missing Hispanic male in New York,” and the patient’s face popped up instantly. Staff at the group home where he lived had placed a Facebook ad searching for him.

From there, a return home was in sight. Hospital security reached out to the New York City Police Department, and officers came to the hospital and showed the patient the ad. Ms. Sierra says it was “very emotional” when the patient recognized himself and said, “That’s me!”

Ms. Sierra is humble and explains it was a team effort. “We all cared—physicians, nurses, social workers, and other staff—we all wanted a happy ending.” Omar Camba, MBA, BSN, nurse manager of 9 East, praised Ms. Sierra, giving her credit for her commitment to her patients and her team. “It’s not uncommon for Elizabeth to go above and beyond for patients and colleagues, but in this instance, Liz truly went the extra mile. This act exemplifies the essence of nursing and compassionate care.” He adds, “She truly embodies the qualities of an exceptional nurse. Academically, professionally, clinically, and as a leader, she serves as a role model for our unit. We are lucky to have her.”

Spotlight on Nursing Research: Addressing Knowledge Gaps in Sickle Cell Disease Pain Treatment

Charleen Jacobs-McFarlane, PhD, RN, ANP-BC

The Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at Mount Sinai recently interviewed Charleen Jacobs-McFarlane, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, a Nurse Practitioner in the Mount Sinai Health System Adult Sickle Cell Program, who has published abstracts in Practical Implementation of Nursing Science focused on the knowledge gaps in sickle cell disease pain treatment and on the factors influencing the decision to seek curative treatment.

What drew you to sickle cell disease research earlier in your career, and what sustains your interest today?

I was drawn to sickle cell disease (SCD) research by coincidence when I had my first NP clinical rotation at Mount Sinai’s Sickle Cell Program as a student nurse practitioner. At that time it was a much smaller program, but there were some research projects going on that sparked my interest. While taking care of people with SCD there were many different phenomena that were occurring simultaneously—in particular, the physiological manifestations of the disease, the complex care management involved, and most importantly, the patient’s experience living with a chronic illness. I thought it would be best to enroll in a PhD in nursing program to gain skills as a nurse researcher and to be better equipped to pursue the unanswered questions I encountered.

Can you give an example?

A small number of the patients I cared for received a bone marrow transplant to cure the disease and alleviate one of the most prominent features of SCD—pain. However, while these patients were technically cured, some continued to have pain. They expressed to me that they felt lost and disconnected from the SCD community because they did not have SCD anymore, and they wondered if they made the right choice in curing their disease because of their continued pain. My dissertation focused on the experience of deciding to pursue curative therapies in SCD. I believe the findings of that study could help us clinicians understand how patients move through making such a life-changing decision and how we can be better equipped to guide them through that experience, and determine what resources are needed to support them along the journey. The patients are what continue to sustain my interest today, because there are so many unanswered questions and gaps in SCD research that need to be addressed. People with SCD continue to have poor outcomes compared to others. I believe that through continued research, we can improve the lives of people with SCD.

In your experience, how has your clinical work been informed by pursuing a PhD, and vice versa?

The longer I practice, the more I refine my research. And since my research in SCD focuses on specific clinical problems and nursing practice within this space, the direct application of my research informs my clinical practice. Pursuing a PhD has sharpened by ability to critically analyze clinical situations, identify underlying patterns and phenomena, and apply evidence-based practice more effectively as a nurse practitioner. My knowledge base in SCD care deepened as I found myself going to the literature more frequently to get answers and to seek clarity with complex cases to ensure that an intervention was grounded in research. Additionally, the rigor of the PhD program inspired me to take on a more analytical mindset while caring for patients, and opened a path for me to generate questions for future research and to imagine how I would approach answering those questions. But while my PhD was research based, there was a heavy focus on leadership and advocacy as well. Using the latest research to inform best practices, influence policy changes, and promote clinical innovation to advance care was of utmost importance, and I continue to make sure I am doing that in my day-to-day practice. Additionally, another clinical influence on my PhD was the opportunity to work with people with SCD, which was a huge advantage. I had experience, insight, and practical perspectives to inform my research. Working directly with patients and various members of the health care team allowed me to identify gaps in current knowledge and where I could focus my research and methodologies.

What strategies have you adopted or developed to balance your clinical and academic pursuits?

It all comes down to time management. I try to stay organized using planners and jotting down my goals for the week. On my clinical days, I am fully immersed in the activities of the sickle cell program. A large majority of my research questions come from clinical practice, and if something of interest comes up clinically, I write it down as a potential project to explore at another time. I have a running list of research questions that are saved in my notes for future reference. On my academic days, I try to focus solely on academic pursuits—no clinical work at all. The questions saved from my clinical days are researched on my academic days. Allocating specific days and times for clinical and academic work has helped me a lot in maintaining structure and reduces the cognitive load of switching between roles. My mentor, Jeffrey Glassberg, MD, advised me on the idea of identifying and prioritizing tasks that are of “critical importance” to achieving my most pressing goals. It has helped me clear a lot of mental clutter, refocus my energy on my research career, and identify parts of my clinical role that can be delegated to others. I started a post-doctoral training program earlier this year and, honestly, I struggled for a few months switching between both worlds. Over time the balance has improved, but it is something on which I am continually working.

How have your research interests been affected by working with an interdisciplinary team at Mount Sinai?

I am fortunate to collaborate with an interdisciplinary team of clinicians who are also National Institutes of Health-funded sickle cell researchers. Their expertise and research achievements are inspiring and bring a culture of high academic and clinical standards to the program. Our interdisciplinary work focuses on delivering high-quality, equitable, patient-centered care for all patients with SCD. The collaboration between physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, research staff, and others allows the team to gain invaluable insights from one another on how to best implement our research findings into practice. It creates a feedback loop for our team, and also helps ensure that my own research remains relevant and beneficial to our patients. Research does not get done in silos. Collaboration between team members is essential to advance the research and the care of people living with SCD. Being a nurse practitioner on such a dynamic team has highlighted how crucial this role is, as we often integrate research activities into our clinical work.

Your abstracts published in Practical Implementation of Nursing Science focused on the knowledge gaps in SCD pain treatment and on the factors influencing the decision to seek curative treatments—how did your clinical relationship to your patients help identify these topics, and what advice would you give to other nurses looking to develop a research question?

My advice for nurses looking to develop a research question would be to start with your clinical area of expertise or interesting things that continue to occur in your area. Because SCD is a chronic illness, and we follow patients through the continuum of care (inpatient and outpatient), I have developed long-term relationships with our patients and their families. They not only share their struggles, but also their successes in overcoming adversity while living with SCD. As I follow patients longitudinally, I am acutely aware of the lack of treatment options for chronic SCD pain, and while curative therapies are a hot topic, they remain inaccessible for many people with SCD. In “Descriptive Analysis of Buprenorphine Inductions in Adults with Sickle Cell Disease,” we investigate the small number of our patients with SCD who often have pain, repeated hospitalizations, and a poor response to the standard treatment with opioids who are in need of additional treatment options. Some of those patients were frustrated with the lack of pain control, and the use of buprenorphine to reduce acute care visits was emerging in SCD treatment. We were curious to see the outcomes of acute care visits and opioid use before and after starting buprenorphine at our institution. In “The Lived Experience of Deciding Curative Treatments for Adults With Sickle Cell Disease,” building on discussions about curative therapies with patients with severe cases of SCD, I found that while this population was aware of the severity of their disease, they often expressed feeling overwhelmed by the decision to move forward with curing their disease for a multitude of reasons, and they often had repeated conversations over months, and sometimes years, about being referred to a transplant therapist. There was some existing research on this phenomenon, but little that focused on adults with SCD and the complex factors behind making such a high-risk, high-reward decision. I sought to understand the reasons patients might hesitate in pursuing curative SCD therapies, and to identify the potential impact of clinical nurses and nursing leadership in the decision-making process.

With Training and Compassion, Nursing Student Saves a Man on the Street From Overdose

Aaron Siegel, nursing student, Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing

Aaron Siegel is a first semester student at the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing, in its Accelerated Bachelor of Science program. Originally from Detroit, he had his first health care experience administering COVID-19 vaccines for the New York City Department of Health in 2021 and went on to work at a clinic for vulnerable populations. This kind of experience recently enabled him to save a stranger in need.

Prior to starting classes in early September, Aaron worked in a Low Threshold Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) clinic, treating opioid use disorder, at St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction in the South Bronx. St. Ann’s offers nonjudgmental health care services to vulnerable people including drug users, homeless individuals, and sex workers. He saw patients both in the clinic and in a mobile van. He also performed wound care and tests for HIV and Hepatitis C. In addition, Aaron is a New York City Department of Health trainer in dispensing naloxone, an aerosol drug that can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

On September 20, Aaron had just come up the stairs from the subway station at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue, on his way to class a block away, and saw a man lying in the middle of sidewalk. His position did not look right to Aaron, who also noticed that the man’s head and hands were bleeding, indicating that he likely fell and hit the sidewalk hard. Aaron took a closer look and saw that the man was not breathing. Another passerby had naloxone in his bag, so Aaron took over, administering it and doing chest compressions between two doses. The man began breathing, but not fully. Aaron asked another bystander to run over to the OnPoint Overdose Prevention Center a block away to get more naloxone. After a third dose, the man’s breathing greatly improved, and he regained consciousness, which is when emergency medical technicians arrived. Aaron consulted with them and then continued to class. His classmates were already chatting about what had transpired; Aaron had been filmed on the Citizen app, and within minutes his efforts to revive a stranger had been viewed by thousands of people.

Aaron does not see himself as a hero, despite his lifesaving actions. “So many people walked by this man. He could have been in cardiac arrest or been suffering from any number of conditions,” he says. “It only takes a few seconds to see if someone is conscious. This man would have died within 10 minutes if he was not treated.”

Not surprisingly, Aaron is passionate about the use of naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan®, to treat overdoses. “In the last few years I have reversed around 10 overdoses with Narcan. Narcan training was provided on the first day of class, which really impressed me; I commend PSON for that. “It’s important for everyone to know how to respond in these situations and be aware that if someone is unresponsive, but you’re not sure it is an overdose, you can give them Narcan anyway. It’s completely harmless if they are not having an overdose.”

Aaron is clear about his future plans upon graduation. “I want to work in mental health and addiction treatment. Individuals living with addiction have experienced trauma—both psychological and physical. And they often have untreated conditions like diabetes and hypertension.” He is likely to work one-on-one with patients, perhaps even back at St. Ann’s, but is aware of the opportunities that exist at Mount Sinai. “It’s terrific that Mount Sinai has an Addiction Institute and a Center for Research on Emerging Substances, Overdose, and New Discoveries (RESPOND). Nurses and health care workers should be aware of the dynamic nature of the poisoned street drug supply. New substances are being introduced, and it’s getting deadlier and more unpredictable.”

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