Health Care Hero Profile: Karl Frank, RN
Health Care Heroes
In May, the Saint Francis Foundation began featuring the amazing Saint Francis Memorial Hospital staff at work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Staff Profile:
Karl Frank, RN
Emergency Room & Director of Bothin Burn Center
Saint Francis Memorial Hospital
Q. What is most challenging about your work during this current crisis?
A. I think the hardest thing is how to remain calm in the face of the unknown. I believe that as health care professionals, we have an obligation to the public to provide guidance and leadership in situations such as this. I struggle with this because at the end of the day, I am also human, and feel some degree of anxiety about the constant changes around me.
Q. Why do you do what you do?
A. I do what I do because I have always had a strong desire to be a nurse and love caring for others. I started in nursing when I was 17 years old as a nurse’s aid and have never looked back. Being a nurse has allowed me to travel the world and has also afforded me the opportunity to meet so many different people, which I wouldn’t trade for anything.
Q. What are you learning from this unprecedented situation?
A. I have learned that there are so many creative people out there and that I have been missing so many good TV shows these past few years.
Q. What do you feel most hopeful about right now?
A. I feel hopeful for the future like everyone else. I truly believe that this pandemic will bring us all closer somehow and will also make us stronger going forward. I believe this because I have already been so inspired by others around me who have stepped up fearlessly in this time of great need and challenge.