Nurses from Mount Sinai Hospital’s ICU – Crystal Whitred, Evans Anim, Jermaine Richards and Himanshu Yandrapalli
Every day, our people at Sinai Health demonstrate and celebrate our Values of Service, Humanity, Inclusivity and Discovery. These Values build on our Purpose of caring, creating possibilities and offering hope to patients, their families and the community.
Meet a few of Mount Sinai Hospital’s ICU nurses who embody our value of Service, taking responsibility, advocating, and doing their best to serve with heart. They embody these values every day as they work tirelessly to provide high-quality, compassionate care for our patients.
Last summer, emergency departments everywhere were under extraordinary pressure with staffing shortages, patient surge, and more complex patient care needs than any time in our history. Mount Sinai’s emergency department was no exception.
“We all share a common goal at Sinai Health – to create possibilities and offer hope. When the ED started facing a critical shortage of staff during the pandemic, I knew I had to step up and do my part. I believe that every experience is an opportunity to learn and grow. Through the challenges, I have gained invaluable experience and a reconfirmed appreciation for my Sinai family. I’m proud to be part of a community that comes together when it matters most,” said Crystal Whitred, Registered Nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital.
That June, during a critical period of nurse staffing challenges, seven nurses from the ICU volunteered to be redeployed to the Emergency Department (ED). Some of these nurses had worked in the ED before, and some had not. They were all willing to step in, even after experiencing the pressures of the ICU during the pandemic. The dedication and efforts of these nurses as well as the ED team helped to create more stability in the department, for our people, and for our patients, during an incredibly challenging time.
“In times of difficulty, our people came together to support their patients and the community. The entire department did an exceptional job of supporting each other, and the ED nurses’ commitment to orienting and training the ICU nurses was critical to the success of the deployment,” said Kate van den Broek, Senior Clinical Program Director, Urgent & Critical Care and Operational Readiness.
The many ICU nurses that have volunteered to be oriented and float to the ED as needed, and the entire emergency team reflects how our people commit to our Purpose and live our Values.
With a focus on the future, our new Kimel Schatzky Intensive Care Unit will open on May 10, 2023, followed later this summer by our Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre. These new spaces will provide our clinical teams with state-of-the-art spaces to deliver outstanding patient-centred care.