Alice Hsu (Center, gray top) with attendees at a recent Patient Family Coffee Break
Dr. Michael B. Sisti just signed on to sponsor a new outreach program called Patient & Family Coffee Break.
The program is held once a month for our neurosurgical patients and their families to get together with hospital staff in a comfortable and informal setting.
“This space is created to welcome any questions, concerns & suggestions that affect our patients’ stay here at 8 Hudson North*,” says Alice Hsu, an enthusiastic night shift nurse who started the program last April.
“I have always been passionate about finding new ways to facilitate communication and dialogue between our staff and our patients,” says Hsu. “Patient satisfaction is very important to me and I wanted to gather feedback on the care our unit was providing.”
Their first meeting, last April, was attended by about 25 people (patients and family members) and a slew of staff nurses including the unit’s Clinical Nurse Leader.
Hsu says,” People gave lots of positive feedback regarding our unit. We had the opportunity to provide support for our patients and to build a deeper relationship with them. Patients and their families were able to share and offer encouragement to each other. And of course, there was coffee, tea, and refreshments.”
Dr. Michael Sisti
Since April, Hsu says, “It has been inconsistent because we did not have enough funding. Now, Dr. Sisti has kindly volunteered to help support this outreach. We anticipate reaching out to more people consistently each month and we hope that the attendance will grow.
Dr. Sisti says when he first learned of this program, “I immediately recognized how important this service would be. It is what we are all trying to do on 8 Hudson North everyday, to bring the highest level of care and comfort possible to the most scared and sickest of all patients and their families.”
The next Coffee Break will be held this Thursday, November 3rd at 5pm in the 8 Hudson North* patient lounge.
* 8 Hudson North is the neurosurgical unit on the 8th floor of the Milstein Hospital building.
