Bad Singing and Great Caregiving
From L to R: Michelle McDerment, Nicole Kulwicki, Bob Speelman, Chris HopeDec 20, 2018NOTE: This story was taken from the blog of Foundations Health leader, Bob Speelman. Each week Bob works at one of his facilities in order to better learn what it means for Foundations Health to be "A Culture of Care."I had the opportunity this week to travel to Keystone Pointe, our 121-bed facility in LaGrange. Chris Hope is the Administrator there and the building is doing extremely well! A big part of the reason for its success are the two STNA’s that I had the opportunity to work with - Michelle McDerment and Nicole Kulwicki. Michelle and Nicole were an amazing team. They knew every little thing of each one of their residents and they’ve worked together so long that they didn’t even have to speak to communicate with each other.
Michelle enjoyed singing to the residents. However, to truly appreciate this fact, you have to know how awful her singing is! Michelle knows it, and the residents know it, and that’s why it’s so enjoyable! She even said her husband makes her go out to the barn and sing! I told her I’d be sure to pray for the animals.
All joking aside, her love and joy for caring for her residents were so obvious, and hearing her sing was actually beautiful.
The nurse for the unit was Latonya Mahone. Her smile lit up the room! You could see the teamwork and mutual respect among each other. Latonya told me that the STNAs she worked with had her trained well, and she smiled. She knew that her success for caring for her residents was based on the success of the entire team. The front line of care was her STNA’s.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie
As we continue building our Culture of Care in each and every facility, it’s so important that we reward and recognize those employees that live out our Core Values. We need to continue to hire employees that fit our culture. It’s the Michelle’s, Nicole’s and Latonya’s within our company that embodies our culture and are the key to our success.
Bob Speelman, STNA
From L to R: Latonya Mahone, Bob Speelman, Michelle McDerment