Musical talents of All Children’s employee help patients heal through harmony

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Katrina Bernal works in environmental services at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, responsible for making sure the room is clean for current and future patients.

"On top of disinfecting rooms, I think the discharges are the most difficult because we have to do them quick but you also have to do them correctly,” Katrina Bernal told FOX 13 News. “You're moving really fast while navigating the room. Especially when you have three or four in a row, it can be really hard work." 

Sometimes she finds herself in conversations with the patients and their families.

"Part talk therapy, part disinfecting your room so you don't get sick,” she laughed.  “I've had some patients that are going through a hard time and just by having that conversation about how their day is going and whatnot, it helps them kind of take their mind off of the stress and what’s going on, and they can feel like they’re in the real world talking with someone else again." 

Katrina isn't a doctor or nurse, but she still finds ways to touch lives by tickling the ivories.

"You can never beat the feeling of a grand piano,” she said. “The feeling of the weight of the keys and how it expands, the sound throughout the room, it's just beautiful!" 

Katrina plays during her lunch breaks or after work around midnight -- even after a grueling day of hard work.

Bernal's passion is half-steps, harmony and helping people, which makes for the perfect pitch.

"I almost feel obligated to do it, not in a way that they force me, but in a way that people are waiting for me to play and I want to give that to them. To conceptualize that people are having a hard time and from listening to me, they can take away from that experience of negativity and feel something positive does make me feel very happy.”

LINK: Katrina's YouTube page is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCISic0_JCiRencuXP0E_k9Q