Starting a new job can be stressful. But imagine starting a new job at a hospital in the midst of a pandemic.

“My first day, I think we only had a couple of patients,” said Alyssa Powell, a registered nurse at Albany Medical Center. “I was really nervous. Everybody was nervous, not just me.”

In March, after working as a traveling nurse in Alaska, Powell started working inside Albany Med’s infectious disease unit.

“It’s just kind of funny how life brings you around,” she said.

Working in health care runs in Powell’s veins.

“My mom’s a nurse, my aunt’s a nurse,” said Powell. “I was a CNA around 15. I’m 30 now, so half of my life in the medical field.”

But nothing could prepare her for the outbreak of COVID-19.

“You know, everybody walks by in the hallway, they say 'stay safe,'” she said. “Then you think in your head, ‘wow, should I be more scared of this?'"

Powell said all of the patients in the infectious disease unit have tested positive.

“It’s a lot of isolation gowns, lots of masks, all of this PPE,” she said. “And it’s funny how it becomes normal to you.”

Powell said the most challenging part right now is all the unknowns.

“We live in America and we’re very fast-paced, and we want answers, we want them now,” she said. “But we just have to trust the process.”

And that is just what Powell and her colleagues around the world are doing. She said the pandemic is an affirmation of why she does what she does.

“These people that are still working in health care at this point, those are the people that really wanted to be in health care,” she said. “We care, we’re compassionate, we want to help people. We want to learn things. We’re learning things everyday with this virus.”

And throughout this ordeal, there have been various displays of gratitude from the public. Powell said it’s overwhelming.

“It kind of makes me break down and cry at the end of the day when you see all the outpouring of love and support,” she said. “It’s great. The community has been great, which is very much appreciated.”