“People are friendlier in the community. We went for a walk, and my friend waited outside this little coffee shop. I went in and there was a woman waiting – there were only two of us – and a really good song came on, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by The Beatles, and this woman was singing it a little bit, so then I joined in. It was pretty funny. I would never have done that before, but it was nice.
I’m a radiology and ultrasound Porter. I’ve been a Unit Clerk for 20 years and still do that on a casual basis. I’m also on the OH&S committee.
In a typical shift, I come in and there’s an area where the tickets are hanging with all the different patients, waiting for their appointments or their imaging. I just grab the first one, go and get the patient, bring them down for their test, and I do that all day long.
I try to get the patients to their tests in a timely manner, so the techs can get their jobs done, but I also want to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible. Lots of patients are in pain, so I’m really careful when transporting them, making sure I’m not swinging them around or hitting anything.
Some of them are nervous, so I talk with them and try to make them not worry about what they’re going to be going through. When we’re transferring patients from their bed to the stretcher, I try to cause the least amount of pain because sometimes it’s very painful for them, depending if they’ve had their hip surgery or whatever else that’s causing them pain.
When I worked as a Unit Clerk, the people I worked with became family. I really miss working there with them. I’d come home and I felt so appreciated by my co-workers. That’s what made me want to do my job so well, just knowing I was helping them.
As a Porter, it’s more about the patient. Sometimes they’re lying in bed all day and this is like a little field trip for them. I try to make it as pleasant as possible for the little amount of time that I’m with them.”
- Corinne, Porter and Unit Clerk, part of the health care team