Building while patients sleep floors above you teaches lessons no textbook can. Here are the five rules we live by.
Lesson one: infection control is not a phase. It is a mindset. From the moment we mobilize to the day we demobilize, every surface, tool, and worker is a potential vector. We treat ICRA like a religion.
Lesson two: schedule around the hospital, not the other way around. We have worked Christmas Eve, New Year's Day, and every Sunday in between. Patient care does not take holidays — neither do we.
Lesson three: over-communicate. Our superintendents text nurse managers before every noisy phase. We post daily schedules in break rooms. We hold weekly meetings with facilities, infection control, and clinical staff.
Lesson four: train for emergencies. Every JT worker on a hospital site knows the nearest exit, the code word for evacuation, and the location of fire extinguishers. We drill quarterly.
Lesson five: respect the mission. We are guests in someone else's house — a house where lives are saved. That humility shapes every decision we make.
