From left, Neha Dangayach, MD; Elka Riley, RN; Chaplain Maggie Keogh, BCC; and volunteer Romana Reyes in the Neurosurgical ICU.
It is always a welcomed break for hospital staff when the Chi CartTM swings into their busy work areas bringing tea, a healthy snack, aromatherapy, and music—and importantly, a reason to gather, if just for a few minutes. The word “chi” (pronounced chee) is taken from Chinese philosophy and can be translated as energy flow, life force, or breath.
Chi Time was first introduced on inpatient units at The Mount Sinai Hospital by Chaplain Maggie Keogh, BCC, in 2013, and later to Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. In August 2017, David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital, requested that the program continue to expand to other areas of the Hospital.
“Health systems are increasingly shifting their focus from employee satisfaction to employee engagement because engagement levels have a significant impact on retention, absenteeism, patient satisfaction, and ultimately, patient safety,” says Deborah B. Marin, MD, the George and Marion Sokolik Blumenthal Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the Center for Spirituality and Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which oversees the program.
Chaplains—and the more than 40 staff and non-staff volunteers known as “Maggie’s Team” they have trained—are behind the success of Chi Time, which now has eight carts and has served more than 9,000 staff since its expansion in August.
Chaplain Maggie with “Maggie’s Team” volunteers in their distinctive scarves.
During a recent visit to the Neurosurgical ICU at The Mount Sinai Hospital, Chaplain Maggie and volunteer Romana Reyes rolled the Chi Cart into a small room behind the nurses’ station, dimmed the lights, turned on soft music, and began offering a selection of tea, aromatherapy, and snacks. The Chi Cart is always just steps away so that staff do not have to leave their units or interrupt patient care.
Elka Riley, RN, Nurse Manager, a regular visitor at the weekly Chi Cart, received drops of lavender aromatherapy oil on her wrist, found her favorite snack, and sipped tea. “I could be a ‘10’ on the stress scale when I walk in, but after Chi Time, I am a ‘2,’” she says. Neha Dangayach, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, and Neurology, and Director of Neuro-Emergency Management and Transfers for the Health System, says, “It gives you time to breathe. I wish we could translate the feeling into our routines every day.”
Chaplain Maggie, who serves as the Director of the Chi Time program for the Health System, adds: “The overwhelming positive response from staff indicates that Chi Time is successfully serving its purpose, which includes giving staff the chance to feel they are worthy to be acknowledged, and providing a calm and nurturing space, a time to ‘be still’ during a very demanding work shift.”