Life for Neumann University alumna Krista McAndress is quite different these days as a medical laboratory scientist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

She works with point-of-care testing, using hand-held lab devices to detect the COVID-19 virus through nasal swabbing.

Jefferson Hospital uses the Abbott ID NOW™ point-of-care testing system, which provides molecular results in just minutes, allowing a healthcare provider to make effective clinical decisions sooner.

McAndress’ department makes sure the devices are running accurately, troubleshooting when issues arise.

Of course, work at Jefferson has changed. “When I go in, it’s definitely very different. I’m not a nurse or a doctor, but I can feel the change. The pandemic has affected almost every role in the hospital. It doesn’t matter how small or large the role is, and it’s an eerie feeling,” she says.

She’s working the same number of hours but she’s much busier and her routine has changed.

To cut down on exposure to the COVID-19 virus, she no longer takes the train into the city. She drives.

“Being in the city is strange. There are way less people and only healthcare workers,” McAndress says.

Once at the hospital, she is given a mask and hand sanitizer. She wears the mask for the entire day. As she walks the floors of the hospital, she sees COVID-19-positive patients on multiple floors.

When she gets home, she washes her hands, strips off her clothes and takes a shower. “You treat every floor, every person, everything as infectious,” she says.

Before coming to Jefferson, she worked at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and completed an internship at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

McAndress is a 2015 graduate of Neumann University, where she majored in Biology/Clinical Laboratory Science.

“The classes at Neumann that I took were hard but being able to develop relationships with professors and feeling comfortable to go to their office hours helped me succeed.”