Dana M. Womack, Assistant Professor of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, School of Medicine, and Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Oregon Health & Science University, keynote speaker at Nursing Research Day 2024.
Nurses do so much more than provide care to patients.
Behind the scenes throughout the Health System, Mount Sinai nurses lead initiatives to improve patient outcomes, advance practice, and promote the efficient delivery of care. Much of this work will be on display during the Health System’s annual Nursing Research Day, which will take place on Friday, November 6, from 8:45 am to 4:30 pm at The Mount Sinai Hospital’s Stern Auditorium.
The theme for this year’s event, “The Value of Nursing Research,” highlights the value of research and innovation projects conducted by nurses in clinical settings. All members of the Mount Sinai community as well as other New York-region health care institutions are welcome to attend.
“Hearing how other nurses identify a problem, evaluate evidence, and measure change can help attendees consider improvements in their own practice,” says Taleisia Babatunde, MS, RN, a recent graduate from the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. “Their everyday observations and questions can be the starting point for meaningful research or quality improvement.”
Ms. Babatunde will present her quality improvement (QI) project designed to promote early moving after cesarean section by improving nursing students’ and postpartum nurses’ understanding of its benefits, barriers, and appropriate timing.
Hosted annually by the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation (CNRI) at Mount Sinai, Nursing Research Day showcases Mount Sinai nurses who are advancing the profession and improving patient care through their own research, quality improvement projects, and evidence-based practice (EBP) projects.
The variety and depth of the work being done throughout Mount Sinai is impressive.
Kimberly Souffront, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAAN, Associate Director, Center for Nursing Research and Innovation, speaking with Translational Research and Implementation Science for Nurses (TRAIN) Program cohort members Arezo Aziz, DNP, MSN, MS, RN, FNP-BC, Sarla Santos, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CCRN, Kafayat Abba, MSN, RN, CDP, CCRN, CMC, NE-BC, Victoria Puplampu, BSN, RN (seated from left to right), and Jah’ Vonie Cooke, BSN, RN, LP, CNA (on screen) at Nursing Research Day 2024.
“I truly believe that nursing science starts at the bedside,” says Keiko Iwama, PhD, MSN, RN, CCRN, Staff Nurse, 6 East CCU/CSICU, Mount Sinai Morningside. On behalf of the Mount Sinai Morningside EBP/Nursing Research Council, she will present findings from a bedside nurse-led QI project exploring non-critical care nurses’ perceived barriers to participating in codes and rapid responses. “Bedside nurses should feel empowered to improve nursing practice while improving patient outcomes through research,” she says.
Xiomara Dorrejo, MS, AGPCPN-BC, nurse practitioner, The Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center, will present a QI project that focused on improving bowel preparation adequacy among general GI patients undergoing a colonoscopy. “Nursing Research Day offers an opportunity for nurses from different backgrounds and patient populations to connect,” says Ms. Dorrejo. “It sparks creative thinking and shows that nurses at every level can drive change for their patients.”
“No one spends more time with patients than nurses,” adds Leah Estrada, PhD, MA, RN, Assistant Professor, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Nurse Scientist at the CNRI. “It makes sense that we need to be directly involved in research that improves health care.”
Alyssa Ramkissoon, RN, BSN, presents the findings of her Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Fellowship project, “Enhancing Nursing Communication in Palliative Care Through the COMFORT Model’s Connect Module,” at Nursing Research Day 2024.
Dr. Estrada will present her research exploring the palliative care needs of Latino family caregivers of persons living with dementia, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program.
“This study helped identify communication gaps between primary care providers, families and patients,” she says. Dr. Estrada will be working to improve these gaps through a five-year grant recently awarded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health.
Jonathan DePierro, PhD, Associate Director of the Center for Stress, Resilience and Personal Growth at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will present research supported by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr. DePierro and a team of clinicians and researchers evaluated mental health and wellbeing among staff, including nurses. “We found that perceived support from direct leadership was associated with both better mental health outcomes and a lower intent to leave the institution,” says Dr. DePierro. The team will present how they have used their findings to inform multilevel support programing available to nurses across Mount Sinai.
“Any Mount Sinai nurse who has an interest in improving care delivery or the care environment will gain a lot at Nursing Research Day,” says Bevin Cohen, PhD, MS, MPH, RN, Director of the CNRI. “Most nurses are doing systematic inquiry without even realizing it. We need everyone to recognize and learn from their work. Nursing Research Day is one place where nurses can connect with colleagues and learn about the resources available to support and disseminate nurse-led projects.”
In addition to research, EBP, and QI project presentations by Mount Sinai nurses, Nursing Research Day 2026: The Value of Nursing Research will feature a keynote by Olga Yakusheva, PHD, MSPE, FAAN, Professor of Nursing, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. Dr. Yakusheva is an internationally renowned economist whose research is shaping national policy around the economic value of nursing and its contribution to patient, societal, and organizational outcomes. Her expertise will frame an emerging national conversation about the return on investment in nursing innovation projects in the clinical setting.Please join this important national conversation about the value of nursing research, hear from nurses across the Health System as they present their transformative findings, and learn how to begin a project of your own. Click here for more information and to register.