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NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

Magnet® Excellence

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital was founded as Babies Hospital in 1887 by five female physicians with a 30-bed capacity. It was one of the first nurseries for premature infants, caring for infants and children up to age three who, primarily, were economically disadvantaged. Many groundbreaking medical and technical innovations developed at Babies Hospital during its early years are still widely used today. These include the first incubators for premature babies in the United States; the Apgar score, which remains the international standard for assessing newborn health; and the sweat test for diagnosing cystic fibrosis.

In the early 1880s, Babies Hospital established a relationship with Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1900, the Rockefeller family funded the construction of a new Babies Hospital, a 10-story building located on the hospital’s original site at Lexington Avenue and 55th Street. In 1929, Babies Hospital moved to Upper Manhattan to become part of the then Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. It expanded to 190 beds and began treating patients up to 12 years old.

In 2003, a new 269-bed children's hospital opened on the NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center campus. Babies Hospital was renamed NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital in honor of the Morgan Stanley corporation, which donated the lead gift to build the new hospital.

Today, NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s is one of the largest providers of children’s health services in the tri-state area. It is a major international referral center serving infants to young adults age 21 in every area of pediatrics, including complex neonatal and critical care, and all pediatric subspecialties. NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s also houses the obstetrical service (formerly Sloane Hospital for Women).

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

2024 Measures of Distinction

55%

National Board Certification Rate

98%

of RNs with BSN and Higher Degrees

11

Newly Obtained National Board Certifications

59

Formal Degrees Conferred

1

Nursing Research Studies Completed

1

Nursing Research Studies in Progress

3

Professional Publication(s)

Contributions of Nurses

Ensuring the safe delivery of a newborn requires a team approach. Due to the complex and rapidly changing timeline during this phase of care, communication about medicines has been a challenging domain related to improvements in the patient experience. Patients receive pre- and postpartum medications with a myriad of side effects, which make it difficult for patients to focus on education for long periods of time. 
Consequently, the labor and delivery and postpartum teams, led by Esther Schiavello, MSN, RN, C-EFM, and Ugochi Chukwuocha, MPA, RN-CBC, developed medication cards that could be used for short periods of time when team members are with their patients. The medication cards are highlighted regarding any medications administered by our anesthesiology partners prior to going into the delivery and operating rooms. The medication cards are also used during nurse leader rounds to ensure adherence to the practice and serve as a reminder for patients and loved ones to refer to this resource. 
There was a 20 percent increase in patient experience HCAHPS top box score regarding communication about medicines.  Nurse leaders continue to stress this best practice by reading patient comments, sharing feedback, and reviewing patient experience scores at team meetings and huddles. 

The Patient Safety and Quality Council led by Quennie Ramos-Niza, BSN, RN, and Peggy Quinn, MPH, BSN, RN, CPHQ, NEA-BC, Director of Nursing Quality, restructured their council and meetings to improve engagement and accountability for quality and patient safety (QPS) goals. 
NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital Bernadette Khan, DNP, RN, NEA-BC Group Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer Individual unit-based champions were identified for each goal: C. diff, CAUTI, CLABSI, elopement, barcoded medication administration, HAPI reduction, and falls reduction. During the council meetings, breakout rooms for each goal were created with Zoom to facilitate focused discussions. For each goal, the team held brainstorming sessions on how they would meet their quality and patient safety goals while discussing barriers and innovations for improvement. Action plans were created for each of the goals and reported out to the full Patient Safety and Quality Council. 
By utilizing this breakout method, the Patient Safety and Quality Council teams achieved their  QPS goals and increased engagement and participation at council meetings. 

Pediatric patients often require multiple intravenous access points to safely and effectively manage their care. Children are vulnerable to skin breakdown due to their fragility and complex care needs in the acute care setting. The vascular access team noticed that patients were experiencing skin breakdown and pressure injuries related to the intravenous access catheter hubs. To address this, wound ostomy care nurses and frontline clinical nurses developed a solution with Mepilex absorbent foam dressings, which are placed under catheter hubs to reduce and relieve pressure on a patient’s skin. 

Following implementation of the new practice by the vascular access team, pressure injuries related to intravenous catheter placement were reduced by 100 percent. Next steps include collaboration with perianesthesia and emergency department teams and expanding the protocol hospital-wide. 

Due to medical complications, a 16-year-old patient became ineligible for a second heart transplant and required an immediate life-saving intervention. This demand for innovation led NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital Perioperative and Critical Care teams to implant the first artificial heart in the Northeastern United States. This groundbreaking procedure involved countless learning initiatives and innovations. Among the innovations, nurses on the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit partnered with Nursing Informatics to create an Epic flow sheet to appropriately and safely document the care related to the novel artificial heart provided for this patient. 
 
A young adult’s life was saved, and groundbreaking care modalities were created. New workflows, educational processes, protocols, and inter-team reliabilities have been solidified through this exciting and evolving venture.