In 2020, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, a 212-bed acute-care community hospital in Midwood, braced for the COVID-19 pandemic. In a two-week period, Mount Sinai Brooklyn evolved from having one COVID-19 unit to dedicating all spaces of the hospital to treating COVID-19 patients. Despite these unprecedented challenges, Mount Sinai Brooklyn patients recognized the level of care that teams were still able to provide, and they took to the survey to share their gratitude.
The Office of Patient Experience surveys patients across the continuum of care to better understand what a safe, high-quality, loving experience looks like—so providers can celebrate it and deliver these experiences consistently.
In December 2021, Mount Sinai Brooklyn inpatient units 1 North, 2 North, and 3 East were celebrated for improving their patient experience survey scores in a particularly critical area of care for patients: Communication with Nurses.
“When we ask about Nurse Communication on our surveys, we don’t just mean the words spoken between nursing staff and their patients, it’s the perception of communication—the nonverbal communication, and the efforts to truly connect with the patient, narrate care, and create a safe, trusting space for that patient to ask questions or relay concerns,” says Tara Villon, Director, Patient Experience, Strategy, Data and Improvement. This measure also accounts for the ability of the nursing staff to set patient expectations for their day and keep them updated. It is an important measure in overall experiences of care because nurse communication has real ties to quality outcomes, such as shortened length of stay and decreased adverse events.
“There are many lessons to be learned from Mount Sinai Brooklyn’s experience of ingenuity and perseverance.”
– Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Executive
In 2021 Dmitry Yanovsky, MS, FNP-C, RN-BC, Nurse Manager from 1 North, presented the key practices that he believes make a difference in exceptional patient care to a Care Checks Steering Committee meeting led by Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Executive, Mount Sinai Health System, and Erica Rubinstein, MS, LCSW, CPXP, Vice President, Service Excellence and Patient Experience. When asked to present on his leadership, he said, “As a nurse manager, I am able to take my knowledge of nursing, compassion, and attention to detail and utilize it to not only help patients, but nursing staff as well. In my current role, I have grown both professionally and personally; and I hope to continue to do so for many years to come.”
Key practices from Mount Sinai Brooklyn’s recipe for success include:
• Incorporate patient care checks or rounds into daily workflow using nursing and leadership staff.
• Nurse Manager and Assistant Nurse Managers prioritize rounding on newly admitted patients first, followed by patients already known, while engaging in interdisciplinary rounds.
• Give Personal Health Record champions designated time during shifts to conduct patient interviews and staff observation. Findings are reported in biweekly council meetings.
• Implement service recovery early by communicating with department managers and leaders so patient concerns are promptly answered and addressed.
• Conduct regularly scheduled unit-based huddles and work closely with Health Operations and Facilities.
• Apply key tools such as daily huddle checklists, 24-hour look back, and today’s overview.
• Document issues that need follow-up, designate responsibility, and implement metrics to measure improvement and success. Continue to implement the units’ visual management boards.
These scores are not the only way the Office of Patient Experience assesses the patient experience. The actual verbatim comment that patients leave on surveys help unpack the story behind the numbers. “The Office of Patient Experience celebrated Mount Sinai Brooklyn for their commitment to their patients,” says Ms. Rubinstein. “This commitment was not easily attained, but maintained through tenacity, teamwork, agility, and resilience. We can see this commitment in what Brooklyn patients tell us in their own words.”
Here is what some of their patients had to say:
“This is my second time at the hospital, and I was extremely impressed with the overall performance of the time I spent in the intake department before I was sent in the back to see a doctor. There I witnessed the teamwork of doctors and nurses, and everyone involved. I have recommended this hospital to my mom, and my boyfriend, and they have used it. Very, very, impressive. Thank you for your outstanding care.”
“I had a wonderful experience at the Mount Sinai Brooklyn Hospital. The staff were very welcoming and friendly. They made me feel as if I was a part of their family. I'd like to extend my gratitude to all members of the staff.”
Robert Lynch, MSN, MBA, RN, Director of Nursing, Emergency Department, Mount Sinai Brooklyn, is a champion of sharing positive patient comments with the staff. “It is important that recognition becomes a routine part of our leadership style so that staff feel appreciated and the department sees continued growth in staff engagement,” he says. The department’s commitment to using data to drive recognition is showing, as its patient experience performance rose from the 25th percentile to the 40th percentile nationally from 2020 to 2021.
“Mount Sinai Brooklyn has achieved impressive patient experience,” says Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, Chief Nursing Executive, Mount Sinai Health System. “Illustrating the Mount Sinai values of teamwork, creativity, agility, safety, and equity, the team has faced the challenges head-on and despite a turbulent time has created a better experience for staff and patients. There are many lessons to be learned from Mount Sinai Brooklyn’s experience of ingenuity and perseverance.”