Submitted photos and press release:
Registered Nurse Natasha Smith (photo above) joined the United Memorial Medical Center nursing team as a traveling nurse in the Emergency Department, but quickly became part of the family. Smith has been busy making special headbands for her colleagues to alleviate some of the discomforts of regularly wearing masks.
“I came up with the headbands one night when I noticed I was getting raw behind my ears from the surgical masks. I am an avid headband wearer and thought adding buttons might help. I didn’t have anything like buttons that night, so I decided to poke holes in medicine caps and suture them to my headbands. It worked and the idea was born.”
Simply adding buttons to the headbands keeps surgical mask straps from continually rubbing health care worker's tender ears during long shifts.
A coworker posted a photo of her new headband to the "COVID-19: Real talk from Health Care Workers around the Globe" Facebook page and the idea was well received with 150 comments, 3.5K likes, and more than 30,000 shares.
This simple, yet genius, design will also be beneficial to health care workers required to mask during flu season – not just during the pandemic.
The headbands and Smith’s opportunity to help others have been a bright spot for her as a nurse in this coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been a rough time for me. I haven’t seen my own children since the pandemic began and it makes me happy to know my silly little idea has helped others."
