It’s difficult to communicate with an elderly person whose hearing aid battery has failed (or who refuses to wear them). Communicating with them while wearing a mask is nearly impossible. It honestly complicates their care, and we did it through the entire pandemic.

When my hospital lifted its mask mandate, I thought I would wear a mask forever. It wasn’t discouraged, left totally up to us. But then one time I pulled it down because I couldn’t communicate with a patient. Then I did it again. Eventually I was routinely pulling it down to talk to people, and I thought why even bother?

Naturally I continue to wear one if someone is diagnosed with an actual respiratory illness. But the ease of communicating with the people who compromise the majority of the patient population in a hospital is my primary barrier to going back to wearing one all the time.

One thing we need that would really help is better protections for sick workers so people don’t try to skirt the rules and talk themselves into coming to work in the early stages of an illness.

Good addition, yes. I was hopping subways in Tokyo recently, and majority of us were still masked up. It was nice.