How Two ‘Sister Hospitals’ Achieved a Zero Vacancy Rate in the Emergency Departments

The Mount Sinai Morningside (MSM) and Mount Sinai West (MSW) hospitals are sister hospitals in a seven hospital enterprise in New York City. As with many hospitals and emergency departments (EDs), staffing levels have been a significant concern since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 the national registered nurse (RN) turnover rate was 27.1%. This rate remains elevated, despite a decrease on a national level to 18.4% in 2023.

A story of progress and stability.

In 2021, the MSM ED had a turnover rate of 27% and MSW ED a turnover rate of 21%. These rates have since trended down, ending 2024 at MSM ED with a 12% turnover rate and MSW ED 7.25%. Today, in 2025, both sites are boasting zero vacancies. This is credited to strategic planning, talent development commitment, and strong partnerships.

A different approach to utilizing travel RNs.

MSM and MSW strategically utilized travel RNs to bridge staffing gaps. However, instead of viewing them as temporary fixes, leadership integrated them into the department culture, ensuring collaboration with permanent staff. A certain percentage of travel nurses ultimately converted to full-time roles, drawn by MSM and MSW ED’s supportive environment and strong team cohesion.

To help strengthen workplace […]

2025-03-17T10:00:25-04:00March 17th, 2025|nurse staffing, Nursing, Quality improvement|1 Comment

Measles: Amplifying the Public Trust in Nurses to Address the Outbreaks

As of March 7, 2025, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that a total of 222 measles (rubeola) cases had been reported in 12 different U.S. jurisdictions: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington. Among those cases, 94% were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Seventeen percent were hospitalized, with the majority of those cases among children 19 years of age or younger. Unfortunately, measles has already claimed the life of an unvaccinated child in Texas, which is reporting the largest outbreak, at 159 cases. The cause of a second death, of an unvaccinated deceased adult in New Mexico who was found to have measles, is still under investigation.

Measles is an airborne, highly infectious, and potentially severe illness. The vaccine [measles-mumps-rubella (MMR)] vaccine is more than 97% effective in preventing disease. In the United States, MMR coverage among kindergartners is now below the 95% coverage target, with rates much lower in some communities, and is continuing to decrease. In addition, global measles activity is increasing, leading to more opportunities for an unvaccinated person to become infected when traveling outside the U.S. or for an infected person visiting or living in the U.S. to transmit to a susceptible unvaccinated person. Groups of unvaccinated individuals provide opportunities for ongoing transmission and the resultant illness. These outcomes are preventable.

2025-03-10T10:03:13-04:00March 10th, 2025|infectious diseases, Nursing, Public health|1 Comment

A Tumultuous Seven Weeks for Public Health in the United States

Editor’s note: AJN news director Karen Roush, PhD, RN, FNP, will be providing regular updates on AJN Off the Charts about the details and implications of rapid and potentially momentous changes being made by the Trump administration to the public health system in the United States.

It’s been a tumultuous seven weeks since President Trump’s inauguration. Changes in leadership and priorities have swept across every federal department, bringing uncertainty and disruption. Trump signed more than 70 executive orders (EOs) in his first month in office, including orders to erase diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts from federal agencies and the military (EO 14151); limit the rights of transgender people and declare that only two “sexes,” biological males and females, would be recognized by the federal government (EO 14168); end birthright citizenship (EO 14160); and further limit access to abortion (EO 14182). Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, has fired tens of thousands of federal employees, dismantled entire agencies, including USAID, and pulled grant funding from universities, nongovernmental organizations, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to head HHS.

Many of the […]

In Times of Overwhelm as a Nurse and Citizen, Begin with One Intentional Act at a Time

Hui-Wen (Alina) Sato, MSN, MPH, RN, CCRN

With the recent devastation and loss around our local Los Angeles wildfires as well as our country’s political disarray, one of the most difficult things about trying to remain empathetic, engaged, and informed as an individual and a nurse has been a sense of utter overwhelmedness.

I think most nurses are both empathetic and action-oriented, traits which can be helpful—but also sometimes crippling when we see needs for help and advocacy everywhere and don’t know where to start. Any action feels like such a miniscule drop in the bucket.

I was carrying this emotional, mental, and spiritual heaviness into work with me a couple of days ago. I sat down to get report on my patient assignment. My patient was so sick, so complicated; she’d been teetering between life and death in recent days. Her parents had been on a roller coaster of the worst kind. ‘Two weeks into this hospitalization, are we still holding onto hope for recovery? Are we gathering relatives to say goodbye?’

I knew I was walking into a space that was very loaded for the parents. They had seen many nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors come through their doors. For as long as they had been in our unit, […]

The Work Environment and Nurses’ Well-Being: And Other Recommended Reading from AJN’s March Issue

This month’s cover honors Thelma M. Schorr, nursing trailblazer and past editor of AJN. Read a tribute to Schorr here.

The March issue of AJN is now live.

This month, you’ll find two Original Research articles:

In “Leaving Against Medical Advice: What’s a Nurse to Do?,” the authors explore the nurse’s role and ethical responsibilities when a patient chooses to leave the hospital AMA, highlighting steps nurses can take to prioritize the patient’s well-being and advocate for the patient’s interests.

“Improving Discharge Education and Outcomes for Patients with Heart Failure,” the fourth article in a series on applying implementation science (IS), describes how a nurse-led team at […]

2025-02-24T09:40:43-05:00February 24th, 2025|Nursing|0 Comments
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