Submission Deadline: February 14th

Eligible Heroes: All Frontline Healthcare Workers

*Featured Heroes will receive a complimentary Blemish Camouflage.

Northside Hospital, Forsyth, Georgia

Quote from healthcare worker

I work at Northside Hospital Forsyth (NSF). I began at this organization as a new graduate nurse in inpatient oncology. Throughout my nearly 10 year career I have been able to work in various position at the bedside and within leadership. I have always appreciated NSF focus on the patients and employees. Some of our patients have taught me more in a 12 hour shift than one could ever imagine.
I was 7 months pregnant in my final year of graduate school when the first stay at home order was issued. When I entered my 9th month I began to have some minor complications in which I needed to be induced. My OB was not available at the Forsyth campus but gave me the option to go to another Northside facility to see a partner. Our organization has renowned women health services at all facilities. I made the decision to be induced at my facility, Northside Forsyth. The comfort of my peers caring for me helped the unanticipated stress of a first time delivery. It was in this moment, mid pandemic, that I truly realized the full extent of the kindness Northside Forsyth embodies. It is something that I will never forget. As the pandemic continues and after this is a distant memory I will make sure I continue to provide the same level of care that I was afforded. 

St.Vincent’s Hospital, Jacksonville FL

Quote from healthcare worker

Throughout this whole pandemic I have realized how a helping hand, a hug, and motivational words can go a long way. When people are alone and feel so isolated, hospital staff can really make them feel special. I am lucky that I get to be there for them when family members and friend can’t be. Seeing progress in patients is what makes me smile everyday. Working with them until they are able to be discharged is a great feeling. I am surrounded by some of the most loving team members that go above and beyond for patient care. Throughout tough times essential works are still there fighting! Thank you so much for doing this campaign. Such a sweet idea that makes every healthcare worker feel important 💕

Oahu Home Healthcare, Honolulu, Hawaii

Quote from healthcare worker

I go to patients home who are too ill to leave their home for physical therapy services. We work on functional strengthening, balance, and improving patients activity tolerance so that they can no longer be home bound and return to their prior level of function and quality of life! It is a privilege to service the community here in a Hawaii in such trying times. Aloha ❤️

Kent General Hospital, Dover, Delaware

Quote from healthcare worker

 I am an extremely passionate nurse and love what I do. Although this pandemic has been challenging for me in many ways between feeling isolated, having Covid and dealing with my fiancé being deployed I feel it has made me so incredibly tough and strong. I am so thankful that I was able to make even the smallest difference to my patients by being able to care for them when there families were not allowed in the hospital. I hope I can continue to make a difference in the lives of others around me! 

ER Trauma Center. Baton Rouge, LA

Quote from healthcare worker

I work in the Emergency Room Trauma Center at a hospital in Louisiana. Excited to start my career as an RN in Emergency Medicine, I never would have foreseen what God had planned for me at the beginning of my career, a worldwide pandemic. This area was hit hard by COVID and our case numbers climbed quickly and our staffing never changed. Overworked and tired, the community stepped in and surrounded us with love.Nurses don’t get to think about themselves. We are called to sacrifice everything we have for our patients. Our hair falls out because we have to wash it every day. Our skin dries up because we are constantly washing. Our nails break off because we are always sanitizing. Our bodies are always hungry and always thirsty and we never get to feed it what it needs because we have no time. Our bodies have been as broken as our hearts.COVID changed many people's lives forever. There is an uncountable number of patients' hands I held as they passed. That has an ever lasting effect on someone. After a long year of loss, sadness, and what felt like stagnant progress, there seems to be fresh hope in the air down here. As things warm up (yes, things get warm down here quickly) spring brings new hope for everyone in a different way! 2020 changed healthcare forever, but made me a better nurse forever too! I’ll never forget what it has taught me.

OR at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Lebanon, NH.

Quote from healthcare worker

Nursing was always the goal for me. I never thought I would be doing this work in the middle of a pandemic, but here we are!Working as a nurse in the OR is a whole different beast. You don’t often know the role of a circulating nurse until you’ve witnessed it first hand. We are the ring leader. We keep everyone in check, assuring the patient is safe at all times, while anticipating the needs of the surgeons. We are the eyes, the ears and the unsterile hands to assist in surgery.I work specifically on the orthopedic surgery team at Dartmouth, and I have to say I love these people like family. I couldn’t do my job without them. They’re the coolest bunch of stone cold, weirdos I’ve ever met, and they make it worth going back after the hardest days.I love the OR. I learn something new everyday. That’s the true beauty of nursing, but especially in my field of practice, the learning never stops. I am certainly never bored!The goal for me was always nursing. Look Ma, I made it!

NeuroStudies, Decatur, Georgia

Quote from healthcare worker

I have been in healthcare for 13 years.  I thought that Covid-19 would end my career in clinical research but we have managed to get creative and come up with solutions to be able to help patients. Safety is always our main concern and always will be. I am so thankful to still have a job and be able to help people because I love it so much. We need research now more than ever and I am so honor to have a part in it. To all my fellow healthcare professionals....keep your heads high and your hearts full. We will see better days!!!

St Tammany Community Health Center, Slidell, LA.

Quote from healthcare worker

I am a nurse practitioner who treats patients in a clinical setting. My world, along with many others, was rocked when COVID infected a large amount of the population. I went to work in a COVID ICU as a Registered Nurse where i held many patients hands as they died. I treated patients, comforted family members, and became family to many people in those few months. Now I am back in a clinical setting where I see mild/moderate in severity COVID cases daily. My heart goes out to those are still fighting the severe cases everyday. Thank YOU for all that you do. 

Medical City, Dallas, TX

Quote from healthcare worker

I work at Medical City Dallas as an Antepartum Nurse in Dallas, Texas For over 5 years I've worked with high risk pregnancy patients caring for them and helping them through difficult times or struggles they encounter while in the hospital. Caring for patients from as early as 6 weeks to term and helping them to prepare to be parents for the first time or just adding to their family has been a joy.   Having pregnant covid patients on the units has brought challenges but I feel my coworkers and I have been able to make the transition smooth and keep the patient safe and comfortable. There have been stressful and sad days especially now with COVID, but knowing the impact I can make on a patient's life makes it all worth it in the end. 

Mayo Clinic Hospital ICU, Phoenix, AZ

Quote from healthcare worker

 I have been a nurse for 5 and a half years. I have a strong passion for being the patient's advocate and empowering my patients through education and putting a smile on their faces. I never thought that I would be in the position that I am today, working on a battle, field fighting something bigger and scarier than anything I could have imagined. I have held patient’s hands while they passed when their families couldn’t be there, and celebrated with patients as they were able to leave the hospital and see their families for the first time after 180 days. All from COVID. This year has been exceptionally challenging. It has pushed limits that I did not think existed. I have learned how it feels to be in the trenches and what it feels to lose another patient that you were rooting for. Sometimes I would go home and ask if there was anything else that I could have done? Then I realize that every journey is different. I reflect on my days with my patients that have passed and remembered that each day, I greeted them, told them about the weather, top hit songs that just came out, and shared loving messages from their families. I made a difference. Though my patients were not always able to show it, I could tell that they were smiling. I am forever grateful to be apart of each and every one of my patient’s lives. I know I left a footprint in their hearts as they did to mine.

Monterey County Surgical Associates, Monterey, California

Quote from healthcare worker

I started working here in the middle of the pandemic and it has been hard but rewarding. We mostly work with patients who are service members, elderly patients, and cancer patients. We try our best to follow protocols and guidelines in our office to ensure that our patients can receive the care that they need during these times. While it can be challenging at times, the best part has been building relationships with patients and seeing smiles on their faces. 

 Wingate, Haverhill, MA.

Quote from healthcare worker 

I am a nurse at Wingate in Haverhill, a nursing home in Massachusetts. I love my patients and my work so much. When COVID hit everything got flipped upside down. I was diagnosed with COVID very early on and spent a few weeks in bed, barely able to move and incredibly sick. All I could think about was how bad I felt leaving my patients and co-workers. I am so thankful I recovered and have been doing well since. I jumped right back into work as soon as I could. My building was COVID free for quite some time and I have been so grateful to see many of the patients recover. While numbers are rising and we are seeing some more COVID cases in the building, I am grateful because I was able to receive my vaccine! I am so thankful for the other men and women out there in the medical field working to fight COVID everyday!

Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Canada 

Quote from healthcare worker

Since May, I have worked as a PAB (nurses aide) at the McGill University Health Centre. I absolutely love the hospital and the safe environment it provides for its patients and employees. I have gone to almost every unit, and took care of countless sick patients, many with Covid, in our ICU. I currently work on a hematology-oncology-palliative care unit, and it is the most amazing place to be. As a PAB, much of my work goes under appreciated, and many people view PAB work as “unappealing”. I have learned the difference a shower, a clean bed, and a quick walk around the unit makes for these patients. With strict visitation policies, I am sometimes the only person that these patients can spend quality time with during the day. I truly enjoy this part of my job. This work has been so humbling and I am grateful to have been able to help out during this pandemic. I will be graduating nursing school in May and will be starting my career as a hematology-oncology-palliative care nurse. This experience has definitely helped in preparing me for the new journey I will soon embark on. 

LongBranch Monmouth Medical Center,

Quote from best friend nominating healthcare worker

My bestfriend Alex runs the ER here in LongBranch Monmouth Medical Center. During the pandemic she worked being pregnant, she had such a beautiful drive by wedding shower, got married with her soulmate privately, gave birth to her babyboy in July. Went back to work afterwards, got the vaccine...and is continuing to be such an amazing bestie, mom, wife, role model to everyone around her. When I lost my babyboy in December she was a rock for me. I’m truly blessed to have her in my life, I’m honored to tell the world that she is a Nurse! I’d give her the world if I could in a heartbeat because that’s how much I love and treasure her.

MlCU at University of Iowa Hospital, Ambler PA

Quote from healthcare worker

For almost 6 years, I worked in the Medical ICU (MICU) at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. For almost 6 years, I was able to call it my home. Our normal population was very sick, but the patients we started taking care of last year were the sickest we had seen so far. 

Very quickly after some of the first Covid positive patients came in to the MICU, we realized we could treat them the way we treat some of our other non-covid patients. Techniques such as early intubation, flipping patients onto their stomachs, ECMO support, to list a few. The thing is, sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it is not enough. How does one explain that regardless of the patient being on max support, they still lay in bed and struggle to breathe? How does one explain that regardless of being on max support, sometimes their body gives out and they go into multi organ failure? How does one explain that regardless of being on max support, patients die holding the hand of a total stranger while only allowed to see their eyeballs? The number of people who still refuse to wear a mask, for whatever reason, and people who say covid it isn’t real is astonishing. Last year was incredibly difficult to be a nurse. My heart will forever ache for all of the patients who lost their lives to COVID-19. For almost 6 years, the MICU was my home, but I just left it to start a new chapter in life that didn’t end with so many patients suffering and dying while other people walk around like Covid isn’t real. COVID IS REAL and it should scare you because it sure as hell terrifies me.

Section 23 School, Toronto ON

Quote from healthcare worker

I work at a section 23 school in Ontario, Canada, which is a special needs school for students, who aren’t able to be successful in a neurotypical school. We provide academics, life skills and basic day to day treatment to allow our students to be successful in their every day life. 

Although all schools are currently closed, the government feels that our students will not benefit from online learning so we have been working closely day in and out with our students in full PPE.

Aptus Treatment Centre, Ambler PA

Quote from healthcare worker

I work in a group home with adults with dual diagnosis. It's been a very challenging time during this pandemic. It's hard explaining to the individuals that we cant go out, do activities or even plan visits for them to see their families. It's so heartbreaking. Especially at a time like this, all you want is your family.

We dedicate so much time to ensuring they are all safe and practicing proper protocols and hygiene as well as trying to provide them with in home activities to keep them busy during this time.

You can only imagine how they feel... being home all day, no family visits, no van rides, no visits with friends. The hardest part is trying to support them in understanding that this is happening because of covid and we just want them to stay safe. It's a very difficult time right now. But we are doing as best as we can, every day, with a smile on our face(even though we as staff feel exhausted at times, and even sad knowing we cant even see our loved ones ) to show them that we are here for them and supporting them during this rough time.

And we will get through it together 🙏💪