Archive for month: December, 2018
Northwell Health’s top career resolutions for 2019
The new year is a perfect time to assess your professional growth over the past year and set goals for the next! Set yourself up for a productive, exciting, and successful new year by focusing on your career. At Northwell, we’re always looking to empower our employees with the tools they need to improve their skills and accomplish any resolution they make.
Stick to these resolutions and your career will flourish in 2019!
Further your education
It’s never too late to learn something new, and furthering your education helps strengthen your mind for future challenges. Choosing to go back to school is a rewarding way to stay competitive in your industry by expanding your knowledge. At Northwell Health, we invest in our employees’ education through a multitude of educational programs. Our tuition reimbursement program* reimburses eligible employees per calendar year toward qualified tuition expenses for an associate’s, bachelor’s or graduate-level degree. We also offer an MBA program through Hofstra University, where eligible employees receive 100% employer-paid tuition expenses toward a degree!
Find a mentor
Have you been meaning to enter a mentoring relationship to help grow and guide your professional development? Connect with a mentor in the new year! Mentors can help enhance and hone your skills, bring a seasoned perspective, and help your career in the long-run. Pick a mentor outside of your immediate department so that you can gain new insight into the company and feel comfortable discussing any problems that might arise within your office as you pursue a solution.
Read a book
Reading is fundamental! Take a break from your usual fiction list and jump into new ideas that will illuminate the world around you and your place within it. If you’re looking for inspiration, explore Health Care Reboot: Megatrends Energizing American Medicine, a new book by Northwell’s CEO Michael Dowling and Charles Kenney.
Volunteer
Volunteering looks great on your resume and it feels good to boot! Find opportunities to give back around your community to help better yourself in the new year. At Northwell, we foster this passion for caring for your community with our Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs). The BERGs program at connects our employees to others who share their passions and identity to reach out and build relationships with the communities we serve. Our BERGs have volunteered within our community educating, understanding and supporting members of various ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, the LGBTQ community, the disability community, and veterans.
Add a bullet to your skills section
Developing a new skill can help you grow in your professional and your personal life. By making professional development a priority, you’ll build new connections and position yourself for advancement.
Expand your network
Join a professional network or society and connect with a community of professionals who do what you do and love it, too!
*Union employees will receive benefits based on their CBA.
Is a new career on your list of resolutions? Look at our open positions.
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Portraits of Caring at Northern Westchester Hospital
Welcome to 2019. We’re living in the age of medical marvels and miracles. We’re using robotic tools, GPS technology, and machines that defy gravity to help keep our community healthy. As a Planetree designated hospital, Northern Westchester Hospital is also proud of raising the bar for patient-centered care. Meet five extraordinary staff members who surpass all expectations to bring comfort and relief to our patients and their families.
Dorothy Cafran: Handcrafted with Love
Years ago, when a patient with advanced cancer told Nurse Dorothy Cafran how much she loved autumn, Dorothy got an idea. “I’m a quilter and I have a lot of fabric at home,” she says. So I whipped up a pillowcase for her using fabric with fall leaves on it. It brought her great joy.” It was the first of many pillowcases Dorothy has handcrafted for patients and their families.
As a palliative care nurse, Dorothy sits down with patients and gets to know the people behind the diagnoses—their interests, likes, dislikes, fears. Hearing about their lives often prompts her to create personalized pillowcases for patients and their family members. “Pillowcases are universal,” she says. “It doesn’t matter how old or young, big or small you are—everyone sleeps on a pillow.”
Recently Dorothy met a woman with cardiac disease whose condition was very tenuous. “She was extra-sad, very sick,” she says. “She told me what she feared most was not seeing her granddaughters grow up. Her granddaughters loved to dance.” The next day Dorothy surprised the patient with homemade pillowcases featuring ballerina slippers. “I told her, ‘These are for you to give your granddaughters. You’ll always be with them, and every time they sleep on these pillows, it’s like you’re giving them a hug.’ The woman burst into tears of joy.”
While her thoughtful gestures never fail to raise the spirits of patients and family members, Dorothy insists, “Trust me, I receive far more than I give.”
Tammi Gonzalez: Tea-Cart Tammi
Many patients have trouble sleeping at night in the hospital. So Tammi Gonzalez, also known as Tea-Cart Tammi, a patient care associate on the seventh-floor cardiopulmonary unit, provides nightly “tuck-in rounds” to make patients feel comfortable and relaxed before bed.
“I go around with a little tea cart, and I offer decaf tea and coffee, hot chocolate, graham crackers, and sugar-free cookies.” Other tuck-in options include warm blankets, eye masks, earplugs, hand massages, scented sachets and recordings of soothing sounds. “If we don’t have something they want before bed, I try my hardest to get it because if I were a patient, it would make me feel like somebody really cares. I love the idea of knowing that someone’s there to wish me goodnight.” How have patients reacted? “Some have told me, ‘Wow, this is better than a hotel! I don’t want to leave!’ ” Tammi says with a laugh.
“The best part is the conversation that’s happening,” she says. Sometimes I’ll sit there and talk to patients for hours. “Often they’re alone and don’t have anybody to talk to. So this gives them the opportunity to have that little chat they might need. I ask them about their family, what they did for a living, where they grew up—it reduces the anxiety that can come with a hospital setting.”
Susan Raskin: Relaxation Is Key
Integrative medicine uses therapies that complement conventional care to reduce pain and to comfort patients. “It helps medications work more effectively because it relaxes the person,” says Susan Raskin, a nurse who practices integrative medicine at NWH. “It speeds up the healing process. That is our goal: to manage pain, stress, and anxiety.”
At no charge to patients, Susan offers reflexology, gentle touch massage, reiki, guided imagery, and music therapy. She also treats patients’ family members. “It’s not uncommon for a patient to say, ‘I’m okay but could you work on my wife?’ And we’re happy to do it. Many family members are here 24/7, and they’re getting rundown. The patient relaxes, seeing their loved one getting cared for.”
“I’m the luckiest nurse in the profession that this is what I get to do all day,” Susan says. “I am always in awe. I see patients and families dealing with tremendous stressors, real fears, and concerns. Their courage and grace under pressure never cease to amaze me.”
Angela Watts: “A Home-like Feeling”
Angela Watts, an ICU nurse, created “comfort boxes” to help support patients and families struggling with the last stages of life. The comfort box is a small gift box containing items a family might need at the patient’s bedside, such as hand cream, lip balm, mints, tissues, tea bags, a booklet about the dying process, a small token with a powerful message, and a silk pouch that can be used to keep a lock of their loved one’s hair.
But Angela’s program goes a step further. “We want to create an environment that gives a home-like feeling,” she says. So the patient and family also receive a handmade quilt, a colorful pillow, and a journal to record their thoughts. “The comfort box is not just a tangible item—it’s a mindset,” she continues. “We want that last interaction to be special and home-like.” Once the patient passes, the family is encouraged to take the items home as a remembrance of that last time. “They love it and are very appreciative.”
“I’ve been a critical care nurse for 23 years, and I’m blessed to care for end-of-life-patients,” she says. “Death can be beautiful, and I feel very honored to be there at such a special time. As nurses, we’re fortunate we can share that time and encourage patients and family to look at each other, hold hands, forgive, and say what they need to say.” Nurses can tailor the environment so it’s warmer and more personal. “This program is very close to my heart,” says Angela. “I feel so fortunate that the hospital supports it.”
Giovanna Albanese: Healing Heart Stones
Giovanna Albanese, activity coordinator at the Ambulatory Surgical Center, has always kept two colorful, heart-shaped stones on her desk. During difficult times in her life, she explains, “they’ve provided me comfort in some way.” One day, a woman came in for brain surgery. “She was beautiful, in a wheelchair, in her 20s, very scared, crying,” says Giovanna. “I asked her parents, ‘Do you mind if I give her something special?’ And I handed her one of my stones. The young woman instantly brightened up, and the parents had tears in their eyes.”
At that moment Giovanna realized that her stones could be as special and meaningful to others as they are to her. She started buying more to give away to those who “needed a little something extra during a difficult time,” she says. “I’ve given heart stones to a mother who’d lost her baby, a distraught breast cancer patient, and a trembling 10-year-old boy getting an MRI. She keeps the stones in a velvet pouch, and tells patients, “I call these my healing heart stones. Pick one—don’t look. You’re going to be okay.” Giovanna has been overwhelmed by the response: “A cancer patient who came back for a second surgery told me she put the stone on her nightstand. Another keeps it in her wallet at all times.”
Giovanna has handed out nearly 100 stones over two years. She was recently awarded a $1,600 grant to begin regularly buying them for patients. “I’m so blessed to be in this position,” she says. “Knowing I may touch someone’s life in some small way means the world to me.”
Are you Made for extraordinary patient care? Explore all career opportunities at Northern Westchester Hospital today.
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Meet our Truly Innovative Physician Assistant Melissa Moscola!
This post is part of a blog series highlighting Northwell Health’s Advanced Clinical Providers (ACP). Each Northwell Health employee was nominated by their manager as an individual that exemplifies a central Northwell Health value. This month, we’re proud to introduce you to Melissa Moscola, PA-C, MA., who is a “Truly Innovative” member of our team. Here’s why:
Melissa is a Truly Innovative PA at Northwell Health. As a practicing PA in various capacities, Melissa was working for a private practice providing critical care coverage. But she felt she could do more for patients and families. When the Follow Your Heart program, a support service for patients and families, was revamped and developed in partnership with CT surgery and Health Solutions, she jumped at the chance to become part of this innovative medical endeavor. As the program approaches its second anniversary, let’s learn how Melissa found the position she’s Made for.
Melissa has spent most of her career working in critical care areas. This experience showed her the importance of support services, “when these patients survive and recover enough to be discharged from the hospital, their needs don’t disappear, they change.” That change means families and patients will need more support than ever. The Follow Your Heart program bridges the gap between the hospital and the patient’s home and helps ease the transition by providing increased access to care, medication optimization, and home visits.
In her position, Melissa is “able to develop relationships with both patients and providers based on trust, which becomes particularly important when dealing with the most vulnerable patients.” And she can build those relationships without sacrificing growing her own. Melissa enjoys the flexibility she’s found in her profession, a flexibility that has enabled her to get her master’s degree, get married and have children.
Throughout her career, Melissa has embraced innovation. The technology available today allows her team to perform virtual visits to patients at acute rehab at Glen Cove. Melissa notes, “the field of medicine is always changing and I am so happy to be an integral part of the change.”
The Follow Your Heart Program was a finalist for this year’s President’s Award where the program and team were recognized for their Truly Innovative work. Melissa recognizes how teamwork got her here, “we are a truly cohesive team that works well together for the good of the patients.”
Are you Made for working with exceptional Advanced Clinical Providers like Melissa?
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Northwell Health team members race to the finish line at the NYC Marathon
This year, more than 50,000 runners gathered to compete in the world’s largest marathon and Northwell team members were no exception! At Northwell, one of our values is being truly ambitious and taking on the challenge of running the 26.2 mile New York City Marathon is one our employees are up for conquering. We caught up with some of our Northwell employees on what it felt like to finish the race last month.
Among our dedicated racers, members of the official Team Northwell Health raised over $30,000 for Northwell initiatives. These passionate team members included Joseph Moscola, Kevin Bock, Pat Farrell, Matthew Moore, Rakijah Galloway-Haskins, Sven Gierlinger, Kevin Beiner and Anghielinne Schwarting.
Hear from members of Team Northwell Health along with other Northwell employees who have raced to the finish line both this year and years prior!
Janine Sullivan
Sr. Secretary 2, Nursing Education and Professional Development,
Cohen Children’s Medical Center
“The TCS NYC Marathon was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I still cannot believe that I ran 26.2 miles! It is truly NYC’s biggest party! All the people, all the music throughout all the boroughs who come out to cheer us on, as well as my family being in Queens and Manhattan, was amazing! I couldn’t stop smiling the entire run! It was such a beautiful day!”
Jennifer K. Svahn, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine
Director, Vein Surgery at Union Square
Northwell Health Physician Partners
“Long distance running, and particularly marathon running, is an opportunity for my husband, Dr. Jeff Nicastro (VP, Clinical Services Surgery Service Line; Vice Chairman Surgery NS/LIJ; System Chief, Acute Care Surgery Northwell; Executive Director Northwell Health Trauma Institute), and I to share something we are both passionate about. It provides us with “together time” outside of the challenges of life as surgeons and the parents of two busy teenage boys. As physicians, optimizing and impacting the health of our patients in a way that allows them to enjoy their best lives is our entire focus. It’s important that we are just as committed to prioritizing our own health and fitness so that we can set an example not only for our patients , but for our colleagues as well. By ensuring our own good health and the mental calm that running provides, we are able to serve our patients better. The rigor, sacrifice and even occasional suffering that are all part of marathon training and running only serve to make the experience of crossing the finish line all the more exhilarating. Running and representing Northwell Health are a perfect partnership – setting lofty goals, taking the steps required to reach those goals, prioritizing health thru action (and not just thru words) are all ways that we can best embody and put into action the Northwell #madeforthis motto.”
Rakijah Galloway-Haskins
Manager, Lab Quality Management
Pathology Administration
North Shore University Hospital
“Completing the run was surreal; I was exhausted, excited, but yet, empowered! All the pain, sweat and tears were gone and just like that, it was over and I did it! The many mantras for the NYC Marathon were : It will Inspire you, It will Empower you, It will Move you, It will Reward you…. I could not help but see Northwell’s intonations embedded in there as well; truly compassionate, truly ourselves, truly ambitions…and of course MADE FOR THIS!!! In the past I have felt conflicted on whether or not I am made for this. Now I know and truly believing that I am. I’ve had several employees come to me congratulating me on completing that 26.2 mile run and state that I have inspired them as well. In fact many want to join the next go around and that is what it is all about! Next year I want to do it again, and bring as many as possible along with me on the journey!”
Joseph Aigbojie
Administration Manager
Pediatrics Cardiology
Cohen Children’s Medical Center
“I’ve run the NYC marathon 2 times (once in 2016 and once in 2017). Ironically enough, the first time I ran it, it wasn’t for Northwell. It was for the YMCA. However, it was my work family at Northwell (specifically Cohen Children’s Medical center) that rallied around me, accounted for more than half of the fundraising donations I received and not to mention how site HR worked with Materials Management to don me in Northwell/Cohen’s swag, specifically a running T-shirt that read “26.2 mile dare. Challenge accepted, Cohen’s cares”. The race itself was amazing. There’s nothing like being on the Upper East Side and hearing a bunch of screaming New Yorkers yell “Go head Northwell. Go head Cohen’s Children. Keep going You can do it.” It’s just the push one needs when they’re exhausted from running the 59th street bridge and bracing themselves to take on The Bronx and central park. The second time I ran the marathon, I was officially on the Northwell Health team. I got to fund raise directly for the organization and it was a great experience. I’d love to do it again.”
And while the race is a time for Northwell team members to shine for their own accomplishments, they’re passion for care remains an ever present value in their lives. This was proven when this year an Northwell physician paused his own race to help provide care for another runner. Dr. Theodore Strange, vice chair of primary care of Northwell Health and the vice president of medical operations of Staten Island University Hospital,wasn’t thinking about his own finish time when he heard a woman cry for help, he was only thinking about how he could help. Dr. Strange stopped mid-race to perform CPR on the unconscious runner and worked together with emergency responders to deliver care. After assuring the woman was being safely treated and transported to a hospital, Dr. Strange continued running and went on to finish the marathon.
Congratulations to all the Northwell Health employees who have participated in the marathon!
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This is Healthcare: Life and Creative Arts Therapies
In this edition of our This is Healthcare video series, we got an inside look at what it’s like to work in the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapies department at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Follow Erin O’Brien, Child Life Specialist II, and Shawna Vernisie, Creative Arts Therapist/Music Therapist, and discover some of the amazing things the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapies team are doing. Check it out!
Are you Made for this? Explore all career opportunities at Cohen Children’s Medical Center today.
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Veteran Rose Powers’ Revenue Cycle Career of Duty at Northwell Health
For the fifth year in a row, Northwell Health has earned a Military Friendly® Employer designation! We’re celebrating by speaking to veterans like Rose Powers, RN to get their perspectives on working with us and the opportunities for veterans and reservists at Northwell Health.
To Rose, her job is her duty. It’s been that way since she left active duty as an Army Specialist. In the following days and years, Rose noticed an evolving concept of duty, an Army core value, and it was leading her to a strong need to do more to help people. So, Rose left her marketing career to go to nursing school and become an emergency room nurse. But her sense of duty was still calling. She wanted to look at the bigger picture. That’s when she took a role as a consultant, assisting hospitals who were in dire straits financially. Rose remembers, “I thought, sure, I could help people in the ER but I could also help communities by working to get healthcare organizations financially stable enough so they could focus on providing quality care with all of the necessary tools.”
That’s how Rose came to the Revenue Cycle Team. She’s now the director of Revenue Cycle Management, a position that impacts both the patient population and employees of Northwell Health. The revenue cycle starts when patients first schedule an appointment or walk into a facility. For staff, a highly functioning revenue cycle protects the financial health of the organization so we can all continue to grow, both geographically and clinically. Rose says, “revenue cycle allows for us to staff the hospitals appropriately, upgrade equipment, implement new technologies, and continue our mission to bring state-of-the-art treatment options to the people within our community and beyond.”
Now, Rose’s sense of duty is expanding beyond our system. Northwell Health is partnering with other hospitals in our community to provide them with best in class revenue cycle practices so they can continue to strive for financial success. And Rose will be leading the charge. “My role here is to work with our alliance partners in all boroughs in the NYC metro area, providing them with advice and assistance to optimize areas of their revenue cycle. This not only provides Northwell with additional revenue but also contributes to the organizations and level of care provided to people within our community.”
Rose is excited for the future of her Truly Innovative department. One of her favorite trends in Revenue Cycle is the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms to increase efficiencies. She explains, “the use of AI often worries people within an organization, with the thought that it will replace staff, but it couldn’t be more the opposite. Instead, the AI functionality will allow our staff to focus on the tasks that require a human element, moving away from menial tasks and shifting to assignments that will continue to help the organization focus on the ever-changing healthcare revenue cycle environment.”
Rose’s team shares her sense of duty and her drive at work. She’s grateful that “after working with more than a dozen hospitals in my career, the people within the ranks of the Revenue Cycle here at Northwell Health are by far the most intelligent, driven, and innovative that I have encountered. Working for and with such a great group of people in an area that truly impacts the entire organization makes me feel as though I am making a difference in our community.”
Here, Rose feels the support she needs to follow her calling. “Northwell provides its employees with the ability to fulfill our sense of duty through the endless opportunities and services, everything from clinical research, marketing, food services, and finance. I believe this truly is an organization that will foster its employees’ need to evolve, both professionally and personally.” Rose feels this especially applies to veterans. “Northwell’s commitment to veterans is nothing short of exceptional. Everything from job fairs, webinars, workshops, and an active community fosters an environment that not only welcomes veterans but provides a platform to thrive in the civilian world.”
Explore all Revenue Cycle opportunities today.
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Northwell Health honors Universal Human Rights Month by reflecting on diversity and inclusion
December is Universal Human Rights Month and this year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To honor this important anniversary, we’re spending the month reflecting on diversity and inclusion within Northwell Health.
At Northwell Health, we are unyielding in our commitment to welcoming, respecting, and leveraging the talent of individuals who apply their diverse perspectives and experiences in helping us understand and best meet the needs of the broad range of communities we serve. In the words of Deputy Chief HR Officer Maxine Carrington, “fully realized, the insights and contributions of a diverse workforce will enable us to fulfill our mission and values, grow and evolve, and assure our reputation as a best place to work and receive care – for all.”
We know that, as a healthcare provider, our diversity is the backbone of our ability to better serve the equally diverse communities that we touch. “I’ve always believed that the power of the health system doesn’t lie in Northwell Health being the largest healthcare provider or private employer in our state but from a much deeper place,” says Regional Director, Community Relations Matthew DePace. At Northwell Health, we draw our strength from the deep diversity of our workforce throughout our levels of operation. This variety of perspectives and points of view allow us to solve the problems of our employees, our patients’ and their communities.
Learn more about our diversity efforts here.
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© 2021 - Northwell Health
Click here to view the “EEO is the law” poster.
It is Northwell Health’s policy to provide equal employment opportunity and treat all applicants and employees equally regardless of their age, race, creed/religion, color, national origin, immigration status or citizenship status, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, sex/gender, gender identity, gender expression, disability, pregnancy, genetic information or genetic predisposition or carrier status, marital or familial status, partnership status, victim of domestic violence, sexual or other reproductive health decisions, or other characteristics protected by applicable law.
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