Beyond the Badge: Keeping Calm and Carrying on During COVID-19

Since joining Massachusetts General Hospital one year ago, Osvaldino Lopes has tirelessly worked to keep White 9 clean and ready for patients. The night-shift unit service associate is charged with cleaning the rooms of patients who have been discharged and sanitizing the hallways and nursing station computers.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the need for increased sanitization has given Lopes’ role further significance within the unit. “COVID-19 has changed so much in how my colleagues and I interact because we are all are trying be safe and respect physical distancing, while also communicating often to each other,” says Lopes. “The virus has created a lot of anxiety, fear and frustration for so many of us, so I always try to share words of comfort among my colleagues.”

Lopes says he and his colleagues are diligent about wearing the necessary personal protective equipment. “It’s important we all continue to play our parts in helping patients—and ourselves—stay safe,” says Lopes. “Doing this work during a pandemic has taken a lot of courage and challenge, as I do worry about exposing my wife and four little boys.”

But despite the new challenges during the pandemic, Lopes takes great pride in his job. “What I do is not just a job; it's a mission I am so grateful to undertake each time I enter Mass General.”