In March 2020, Mount Sinai Queens, like many other hospitals, was overrun with patients with COVID-19. Despite layers of PPE, plus anxiety, exhaustion, and communication overload, the will to not only survive but thrive sustained the breath behind every mask. Heroes of all types were saving and soothing lives, and still are.

Outside the big front door of our hospital is a bustling ED ramp. To the left were two 18-wheel refrigeration trucks, the sight of which could take your breath away. To the far right were two 30-foot inflatable enclosed tents propped up to help the ED off-load abundant overcrowding inside. These were constant reminders that we were living through a once-in-100-year-pandemic.

An ER nurse’s creative response to a grim time.

The health care workers at the hospital weren’t the only ones subjected to these grim sights; so were our Astoria neighbors, who lived on the same block facing the ED ramp. We’ve always prided ourselves on the collaborative work we do for and with this community, including health fairs, screenings, and partnering with them on community boards. So one of us, an ED nurse named Fionnuala Quiqley (Nuala), decided to do something about it.

Nuala is a skilled and passionate ED nurse with more than 14 years of experience. She is also a neighbor—her home is very near our hospital. In October 2020, Nuala knew the struggle and pain of the staff and surrounding hospital neighbors from the cumulative weight of the successive waves of COVID-19. The freezer trucks and tents and the volume of patients in need were overwhelming.

Nuala wanted to create something in that space that was more peaceful to look at. Along with some volunteers from a local church, she cleared out an overgrown tree pit near the ED ramp and built a rock garden. She asked a friend to bring river rocks from her house upstate. She bought paints and paintbrushes and laid them out on the ED break room table for staff during their meal break to invite them to take part in an arts and crafts activity.

A place to just breathe.

The staff took to the rock painting and the #emergencyrocks hashtag was born on Instagram. Rocks of all sizes, shapes, colors, and messages of motivation were created in our break room, shellacked to protect them from the weather, and placed in the rock garden. Instagram lit up with support from around the community and hospital staff. The garden became a place to drop your painted rock, drop your mask, drop your guard, and just breathe.

Two years later, in October 2022, we held a grand reopening of what is now called the “Rock Garden of Hope” to celebrate our staff and neighbors who transformed rocks into colorful art to help heal our community and ourselves. The garden is a homegrown memorial that pays tribute to all health care workers who cared for those who had COVID-19. The rocks now have a forever home, minus the long-gone freezer truck and pop-up tents.

Nuala wrote on her first @emergencyrocks Instagram post: “If you build it, they will paint. Health Care Hero Workers, painting one smile at a time. Be the reason someone smiles today!” We at Mount Sinai Queens could not agree with her more.

By Jill Goldstein, MA, MS RN, VP nursing support services and deputy chief nursing officer, Mt. Sinai Queens; Fionnuala Quigley , BSN, RN, CEN, CPEN, clinical nurse, emergency department, Mt. Sinai Queens; Ana M. Rodriguez, LCSW, director community affairs, patient relations and volunteer services, Mt. Sinai Queens.