By Mia Cernigliaro
When Anna Cerra, chief nursing officer at Greenwich Hospital, talks about resilience, she doesn’t speak in abstracts. “Unless you’re a robot, you’re going to get emotional,” she says. Cerra has spent the better part of two decades studying what sustains nurses through some of the most emotionally demanding moments of their lives. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, that question became impossible to ignore.
“Nurses were getting burnt out. They were decompensating and they were not being productive,” she recalls. “Many left nursing altogether to go somewhere not as intense as 24/7 inpatient care.” Watching the exodus of frontline nurses, Cerra leaned on something she had long understood, both as a researcher and as a devout Catholic: spirituality.
Cerra believes strongly that spirituality – however it’s defined – can be a vital force in healthcare. But she is quick to clarify: “People get confused and think that spirituality is like religion. You don’t have to have a religious denomination to be spiritual.” For her, spirituality is about transcendence, healing and a connection to something bigger than the moment, whether that’s through faith, reflection or simply a sense of purpose. It’s an expansive definition that informs the hospital’s growing spiritual wellness program, which has become a cornerstone of nurse support and development at Greenwich.
The initiative began as a pilot based on Cerra’s research and a model known as ASSET (Auctioning Spirituality and Spiritual Education and Training). Partnering with Rabbi Mary Jane Newman, the hospital launched monthly spirituality education classes for nurses. Today, those sessions run twice a week. More than 400 nurses have participated to date, and new nurses must now attend a one-hour class during their very first week on the job.
“Education is beneficial,” Cerra explains. “If you don’t know what your feelings are about spirituality, how are you going to help a patient?” These classes aren’t about theology. Instead, they give caregivers tools to reflect, recharge and build emotional resilience. For many, the experience becomes deeply cathartic. “Many nurses still cry when they speak about what they went through with COVID,” Cerra says. “Spirituality helps – it’s exhilarating. It’s liberating.”
Greenwich Hospital’s spiritual wellness efforts are both diverse and culturally sensitive. For staff, offerings include Tibetan singing bowls on serenity days, providing moments of calm and reflection. For patients, every room features a dedicated imagery channel with soothing visuals designed to promote relaxation. Per Cerra’s guidance, these initiatives make spiritual care a visible and accessible part of the hospital experience. Nurses are trained not to administer rituals, but to recognize and respond to spiritual needs. “I’m not asking the nurses to give patients their final spiritual rites,” she says. “But they need recognize when a patient is in crisis and know who is best to call.”
Cerra speaks with warmth and urgency, drawing from her own story. She remembers the call she received when her Italian-speaking mother was a patient at the hospital: “She’s confused. She’s screaming,” the nurse told Cerra. All her mother wanted, she realized, was her rosary beads – but they didn’t know what to ask or how to ask it. Moments like that drive Cerra’s mission to prepare nurses not just clinically, but emotionally and spiritually.
“Nurses get burned out – especially in critical care or oncology units, where they see death every day,” she explained. “You must learn how to deal with it.” Under Cerra’s leadership, the hospital provides resources like weekly garden walks and massages for both oncology patients and staff. More significantly, Cerra’s spiritual initiative fosters conversation and meaningful reflection among both employees and patients. “Every family has a cross to bear,” Cerra adds, quoting her mother. “And when you hear others speaking about their experience, what is the cross that they have to bear? That really puts things in perspective.”
At Greenwich Hospital, healing isn’t just about medicine – it’s about meaning. And with Cerra’s oversight, patients and employees alike are rediscovering both through practicing and experiencing intentional spirituality.
