Dianna Noel

Wearing a mask on the daily doesn’t phase Dianna Noel anymore. But wearing three masks and a shield? She was hit with the unexpected. 

“I thought after working four days a week I would get used to it,” said Noel, “but it’s just as tiring as it was at the start.”

Noel is a nurse in the operating room at the University of Miami Hospital. She is either assisting in brain and spine cases or working with COVID patients.

“Having to wear three masks may sound excessive to people outside of the hospital, but it’s something we have to do in order to keep patients and workers safe from the virus,” said Noel. 

Throughout the day, Noel has to constantly change her masks, especially when switching from case to case. She takes extra precautions at work in order to keep her household safe.

“I spend a lot of my free time outside in my garden, and sometimes my neighbors are around, but I don’t usually wear a mask while in my yard,” said Noel.  

 She gets very upset when she sees people walking around in stores wearing their masks just over their mouths.

“It’s almost unfair,” said Noel, “we have to wear multiple masks at work and it’s sad to see people can’t even wear one to the grocery store.”

When she goes to the store or goes out with her daughter she always wears a mask and keeps extra ones in her car. Her go-to mask is a white colored mask that has her hospital logo on it. 

“It’s cute to see that people have gotten creative with the styles of their masks,” Noel said, “it adds more design and color to the tragedy of this pandemic.”