Bob’s Blog
In 2017, I decided I was going to become a State Tested Nursing Assistant (STNA). I made this decision because I felt it was important for me to understand our company once again from the ground up. The industry was facing a major shortage of nursing assistants, and I wanted to find out why, and what we could do to fix it. My aim was to work alongside the nursing assistants in our facilities and engage them to help us solve this problem. I wanted to know why they work for us, what we do well as a company, and what we could do better. At the end of the day, I hoped to learn what makes a great caregiver and how we could get more of them.
What I wasn’t expecting was to fall back in love with our industry and our people. You see, as I rose further up in my career, I became removed from our amazing frontline staff. As an Administrator, I interacted with them every day, but when I became a Regional Director and then Vice President, the meaningful interactions became less and less. When I was at a building, it was usually for a meeting or tour. Pretty soon, everything I knew about each building was from a financial and a spreadsheet. I no longer knew our people.
My weekly visits to our facilities are now intentional. The purpose of each visit is to work with one of our amazing caregivers. To get to know them. To listen and learn. These blogs are about those visits to our facilities and the incredible caregivers that I have had the privilege to work alongside and get to know. These blogs are their stories and the lessons that I have learned. These remarkable caregivers ignited in me, once again, a love and passion for long-term care. I hope you enjoy reading them as much I have enjoyed writing them. We have an outstanding team of caregivers here at Foundations, and I am so proud to call them my friends.
Bob Speelman, STNA