When PPE shortages early in the pandemic threatened staff safety, Lynette deconstructed a surgical mask . . . then led a team of volunteers to construct 18,000 more.
NH+C honors select employees each year as part of our Do The Next Right Thing initiative that empowers every individual on staff to help provide the best experience possible for patients, guests, and each other. We're proud to honor Lynette this year.
Lynette is a surgical nurse . . . and a seamstress. (And a MacGyver.) She created a sewing pattern for a three-ply mask, then repurposed surgical wrap – a two-ply, tightly woven fabric used to wrap sterile instruments for surgery. Voila: a safe mask that can be sterilized and used over and over again.
With the pattern and raw material in hand, Lynette and a friend recruited over 80 volunteers to produce masks at home.
“Everybody was frightened. Everybody wanted to make a difference and help out. This was a way they could help the frontline people,” Lynette says. “I was overwhelmed with how everybody just stepped up. I truly had goosebumps as people dropped off these masks” they had made.
“Amazing things can happen if you ask people to help.”