Nursing assistant's photos documenting 'rawness' of Good Shepherd ICU chosen for TV ad
Certified nursing assistant Amy Jo Badowski began taking photos of her colleagues as a way to honor their work with patients infected with COVID-19 in an intensive care unit at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Lake Barrington.
But what started as a health care worker capturing moments in the COVID-19 ICU with her iPhone 11 during some down time - and eventually posting some on social media - is now part of an Advocate Aurora Health commercial running Sunday during ESPN's “The Last Dance” documentary on the Bulls' final championship season with Michael Jordan.
Four</a><![CDATA[ of wski's images are among 10 photographs of workers from across Advocate Aurora's system in Illinois and Wisconsin in the 30-second spot.
“It's like, no, I'm not saving lives, but I'm here to help these nurses and honor them and bring everybody a picture of what rawness is happening in the ICU,” said Badowski, 47, of Rolling Meadows. “It's hard to understand that on the outside. Not everybody does.
“I'm really excited about where it's going and what it's doing for these nurses to put them out there.”
Titled “You Are Our Heroes,” the commercial is part of an effort to recognize employees on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic, Advocate Aurora Chief Marketing Officer Kelly Jo Golson said. The spot's debuted publicly Saturday in the Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay media markets during the “One World: Together at Home” special.
The ad features a voice-over saluting Advocate employees for running toward danger with courage and compassion, just before a string of 10 still images of workers in various settings and situations, such as assisting one another with personal protective equipment.
“We've received really positive feedback from our team members, our community,” Golson said. “It's been very heartwarming to hear the response.”
Golson said Advocate Aurora solicited images from nursing teams as well as professional photographers on staff before the commercial's production. Badowski said in her case, Advocate Aurora brand services director Mickey Ramirez contacted her about a week ago after seeing a couple of her pictures.
Badowski, who has been at Good Shepherd for 3½ years, said she decided to shoot her colleagues in black and white to highlight the emotion in the images.
“Color, it just seems like a normal picture (of) people at work,” she said. “The black and white really shows the emotion in the person's face. The lighting is a little different.”
As for the job, Badowski said she's on 12-hour shifts three days a week at Good Shepherd's ICU dedicated to patients with COVID-19 infections. She says she'd work more hours if she were allowed.
“So far, so good,” she said. “Knock on wood.”