Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable: A conversation with Marsha Sinanan-Vasishta

Abstract

We find ourselves managing two critical moments and a powerful confluence of events, one a crisis in health. We are still facing the COVID crisis, and we are trying very hard to rely on evidence and truth that will lead us forward in addressing that in the best way possible. We are also in a crisis of humanity, one that has been simmering beneath the surface for years, the issue of systemic racism and disparities in healthcare, further highlighted by the COVID crisis. This article shares the conversation I had with Marsha Sinanan-Vasishta, MSN, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, CPXP, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Patient Care Services Mount Sinai/Morningside as part of The Beryl Institute's bi-weekly community briefing series on the special topic of addressing systemic racism and health disparities in a time of crisis. Ultimately Marsha called us on to seize this moment to act, to find ways to get comfortable in being uncomfortable with relentlessness and ultimately to take this moment, which could be one of fear and doubt, to truly be brave.