“Wearing a mask all day makes it difficult to communicate with hard-of-hearing residents, who rely on reading lips. But together, we figure it out.
I make sure to keep on doing what I’d normally do and smile under the mask, even though no one can see it.
I’m a Nursing Assistant. My work involves helping people in care with everything from waking up, dressing, getting ready for the day, help with using the bathroom, bathing – I see to all their personal needs.
My residents can’t have visitors right now, so our recreation team sets up for FaceTiming. Video-chatting with their families makes them light up, but it’s also kind of heartbreaking because family is important and they can’t hug their loved ones. So, I’m trying to be extra sympathetic by being there to support them. I want to make sure they’re okay.
We make sure to celebrate resident birthdays in a big way. One resident had a drive-by parade for her birthday and wedding anniversary. Fifteen cars and her husband blowing kisses – it was super awesome.
As a frontline worker, I wasn’t able to visit my family. Not seeing my nieces was hard for me. What helped was that my co-workers are like family, so I wasn’t completely alone – that would have been way worse.
I love my job. I wouldn’t change it. I treat my residents the way I would want to be treated if I was in their situation. I’ve known since I was a little girl that this is what I wanted to do. I’ve found my calling.”
- Ashley, Nursing Assistant, part of the health care team