A Calming Force At McKinney

Kerline Jean-Glaude

Patient Care Technician,
NYC Health + Hospitals/McKinney

My Role: As a Patient Care Technician/Nursing Assistant, I feed the residents, dress them, comfort them, talk and joke with them and assist them with activities of daily living. We care for eight to 13 patients during a shift.

Impact of COVID-19: We have to watch our residents closer now and have to monitor them and make sure they get more water. We have to spend more time talking to them because they are not getting any visitors at all.

Helping them settle down is important because they are more anxious than us since they are not seeing their family members.

Why I'm Fighting COVID-19: Getting up, getting dressed and going to work when a lot of people are not working right now is already something important.

We are the essential workers of this City. If I can make somebody happy for the day, that makes my day.

Managing Stress: I take a break whenever I can and take a nice deep breath. I am a religious person. When I'm home, I pray because nothing else can help more than meditation and prayer. I also do it on my break at work because you need it.