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Thank You to Frontline Healthcare Workers

Why Now is the Right Time to Become a Medical Assistant

In recent weeks, Google has noticed a significant uptick in searches of how to thank healthcare workers. The global pandemic is bringing out the compassion in all of us, and now is a better time than ever to acknowledge the important work that doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and anyone in the healthcare field are doing to keep us safer and healthier.

The Importance of Healthcare Workers

Right now, healthcare workers are our nation's most valuable resource. The number of hospitalizations and people in need of medical care is rapidly increasing and patient numbers are becoming oversaturated at an alarming rate. Because of this, healthcare workers are truly going the extra mile to protect us. Healthcare professionals are not only working hard in hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities, but they are also our most important information source. During this time, it is especially important to be receiving and absorbing information from qualified individuals in order to properly respond to the current situation.

Increasing Demand for Medical Staff

Because hospitals are filling up by the second with COVID-19 patients and symptomatic patients on top of the usual patient load, hospitals and care facilities are doing everything that they can to increase their maximum patient capacity. This includes increasing the amount of on-duty staff, everywhere from doctors to medical assistants to janitorial staff. Because of this increase, the demand for qualified workers is higher than ever before.

On the Frontlines

While the media has been largely centered around hospital workers, those aren’t the only individuals on the medical frontlines. These heroes aren’t just in our hospitals, they’re everywhere! The medical field offers a wide variety of work environments, including but not limited to:

    • Hospitals
    • Nursing homes
    • Private practices
    • Urgent care facilities
    • Emergency rooms
    • Private home care

All of these environments are experiencing an increase in demand due to the current pandemic. This is not only due to the increased patient load but also due to the increased sanitation measures that require more work hours to uphold. All of the extra hours are leading to longer and longer shifts for current staff. Long shifts can lead to decreased staff safety due to longer periods of exposure, as well as decreased quality of care due to staff exhaustion. If medical staff were more plentiful, individuals wouldn’t have to work such long hours, and shifts could be more evenly distributed.

The Life of a Healthcare Worker

We are just now beginning to recognize the sacrifice that healthcare workers assume daily to keep the public safe and healthy. It is not only an extreme physical feat but an emotional and psychological one as well. The medical field contains a variety of challenges that make it a difficult domain, but conquering these challenges can ultimately lead to an ultra-rewarding pay-off. Healthcare workers are no longer individuals you see once a year for your check-up, they are the foundation of public health.

As most individuals retreat into their homes for quarantine and self-isolation, essential healthcare workers brave the scary conditions of the world to go to work and try to help and heal. This unprecedented pressure has created heroes out of these workers. The risk that they are bringing upon themselves and then home to their families is more crucial than ever to help conquer this virus. Doctors, Medical Assistants, Nurses, and other staff are the 2020 version of firefighters and other first responders.

Most hospitals, due to short staff, are abandoning or prepared to abandon their typical shift cycles. For example, a nurse that usually did a 5-days-on, 3-days-off schedule might have to switch to a 6-days-on, 2-days-off schedule. This is especially true for areas affected by COVID-19. Additionally, many facilities are leaning harder on personnel that didn’t get as many hours before this pandemic. For example, a medical assistant might be bumped from part-time to full time. This switch allows the doctors and nurses to have more support, which allows for better balance within the system.

Help Stop the Spread

If you want to join the courageous medical staff on the front lines, now is the best time to enter the field. You can become a medical assistant in just nine short months with our program at Woodruff. If you’re interested in helping your community and becoming one of these heroes, we can help you get started!

