Bridging Communication Between Patients and Medical Staff
By Emma Akuyeva ‘25This summer, I served as a Comfort Specialist in the Emergency Department (ED) at South Brooklyn Health, a public teaching hospital within NYC Health + Hospitals.
In my role, I supported the medical staff by ensuring that patients remained comfortable during their often stressful visits to the Emergency Room. My responsibilities included distributing blankets, providing food trays, assisting with meals, delivering medications from the pharmacy to nurses, and acting as a patient advocate to bridge communication between patients and medical staff. Additionally, I conducted patient experience surveys with both pediatric and adult emergency patients, offering ED management insights into the level of care being provided.
A unique aspect of my experience was the predominantly Russian-speaking patient population at South Brooklyn Health. As a Russian speaker, I was able to connect with many patients on a deeper level and assist with translating symptoms to non-Russian- speaking medical staff. This experience highlighted the critical role language plays in the medical field.
Overall, this experience gave me a thorough understanding of healthcare and strengthened my passion for patient care.
Internship funded by the Peter Buck Internship Fund.