Health-care workers rock out in music videos in support of breast cancer awareness

Here's a sight no one ever expected to see at Countryside Care Center in Aurora:

A top administrator doing the Hula hoop while rocking out to Katy Perry's hit, “Firework.” That's one of nurse Terri Eichelberger's favorite moments in the nursing facility's entry in a nationwide dance video competition.

Eichelberger, a breast cancer survivor, and her co-workers wear pink exam gloves and matching T-shirts that she designed during the 4-minute dance video.

The practices and shoots took place on employees' own time. Another nurse's son, a professional dancer, volunteered to do the choreography. A social worker's daughter edited 30 hours of footage.

When she saw the final cut, “I cried, of course,” Eichelberger said. “These are all the people that I work with every day. It's so cool.”

People can vote for their favorite videos on Facebook. Three national winners will be announced Oct. 28, with the prize being a donation to the breast cancer charity of their choice.

Three other area heath-care organizations entered music videos: St. Patrick's Residence in Naperville (Jay Sean's “Pink”), Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington (also Katy Perry's “Firework”), and Loyola University Health System in Maywood (Pink's “Raise Your Glass.”)

The St. Patrick's video features many of its residents, swaying their pink-gloved hands to the music. Good Shepherd's incorporates pink-banded top hats, a dog in a pink boa and even the Flight For Life helicopter. Loyola's video is black and white so the pink gloves and other pink wear pop.

The original Pink Glove Dance Video in 2009 featured 200 Portland, Oregon, hospital workers. That video has had more than 13 million views on YouTube.

A sequel produced last year featured 4,000 health care workers and breast cancer survivors.

“This is more than just a campaign,” said Sue MacInnes, chief marketing officer for the Mundelein-based Medline, manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies and sponsor of the contest. “The Pink Glove Dance is truly a movement, in every sense of the word.”

For Eichelberger, the video helps fulfill a promise she made to herself when she was undergoing cancer treatment 4½ years ago.

“If I get through this,” she told herself, “I'm not going to shut the door on anything that opens up for me to help people.”