April 21, 2020 WCC
Jennifer Brandt
Occupation/Title: Patient transporter, nursing intern
Place of Work: St. Joseph Mercy Hospital – Ann Arbor
WCC Degree in progress: Associate Degree in Nursing
Anticipated Graduation: 2021
How has your job changed?
I work at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor as a patient transporter and a nursing intern. I typically transport patients from their room, pre-op, CT, MRI, ultrasound, angiography, X-Ray, emergency department, hemodialysis, etc. Recently, the amount of patients I have seen throughout the day have decreased and the amount of COVID-19 patients have increased.
How has your life changed?
When the pandemic first started to arise, I was frightened. Now I go in and out of COVID-19 rule out rooms throughout my entire shift. I take care of them, I comfort them and most importantly, I let them know they are not alone. Because visitors are prohibited at this time patients are feeling alone and frightened.
One thing you wish the public knew about healthcare workers?
Healthcare workers risk their health every single shift to care for patients. Whether it’s airborne, contact or droplet, we enter patients’ rooms with the PPE and we care for patients because that’s our job.
One thing you wish the public knew about COVID-19?
For those who are not healthcare workers and cannot care for the patients in need, you can at least perform social distancing, hand washing and obeying the stay-at-home order. We need to all work together to flatten this curve and help those in need!