NYC nurse Chantelle Diabate
“My drive for me was my patients. As long as my daughter was safe [with a baby-sitter], I knew I had to come back and take care of my second family. I knew they needed people and it was an emergency.”
Chantelle Diabate, a 31-year-old licensed practical nurse, works the 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. shift at the Hebrew Home in Riverdale, NY. As she was leaving work after her overnight shift Saturday morning, she realized there would be no way to go home to Washington Heights and then make it back to her job again by nightfall. So she crashed at a friend’s place in The Bronx — and then spent an hour and a half Saturday evening walking the 1.5 miles back to her job.
Diabate was the only night worker to make it in.
“This is what I do for a living.I love it, and I have a passion for it,” she said. “I love the geriatric community, they have so much to offer. They shaped the world we live in today.”
