“When COVID first hit, there was a lot of new screening happening at the hospital.
I work in Medical Device Reprocessing, but that slowed down because of the cancellation of surgeries. So, I did a few weeks of non-stop screening for people coming into the hospital. I loved that because I got to work with more nurses. I really appreciated getting to know other people in the hospital because I met some really cool people.
A pandemic is not something we’ve ever lived through before, so there’s a lot of uncertainty. How do you cope? How do you deal with it? In the beginning, I was very unsure.
Because of this pandemic, I now have a better acceptance of what can and can’t be controlled in life. A pandemic is all about outcomes, but you can’t control most of it. You can control how you feel, and what you do to make yourself feel better and safe. This has made me realize there are a lot of things I can’t control, and that’s okay.
I like how there’s more of a community mind-set right now. People are more attentive to everyone else now, instead of just themselves. Each individual community we’re a part of is something we need to pay attention to right now, and it makes a huge difference.
A lot of people don’t know what Medical Device Reprocessing does. Today, for example, I’m dealing with the OR, and everything they dispose of after use, and everything we need to clean after use.
We bring the instruments up to the rooms and bring surgeons what they need. We’re the ones making sure those instruments used on patients will not give them an infection, that they are clean, and available for the surgeons when they need them.
We’re a big part of patients’ health and safety when they come to the hospital.”
- Charlie, Medical Device Reprocessing Tech, part of the health care team