Often in life, there’s the family you’ve known and then the family you’ve grown.
At Good Samaritan – Comforcare in Austin, Minnesota, growth is around every corner. Look no further than four caregivers – Akoua Gnimavo, Reine Adomou-Larsen, Anna Jatta and Cash Day.
Akoua, Reine and Anna emigrated from West Africa – Akoua and Reine from Benin, Anna from Gambia. The experience shaped their path.
“I decided to be a nurse when I was 16 years old because I took care of my grandparents back home,” Akoua says.
“One of my aunts passed away giving birth – there was no hospital around – so that was really painful for the family,” Reine adds.
For Cash, Comforcare was a little closer to home. He would visit his grandpa, a resident before he passed away, watching as staff cared for other people’s family members.
“It was inspiring when I was here,” said Cash, who has worked at the location since his senior year of high school. “It kind of nudged me towards this kind of area.”
A call to help others drove all four of them to long-term care.
“Even the smallest act of kindness, like holding somebody's hand when they are going through a rough day becomes a great help to them,” Anna says.
A common goal brought them together.
“Basically, we met in college,” Anna says with a big smile.
Nursing school challenges
Anna and Cash were working as certified nursing assistants at Comforcare when they enrolled in nursing school to expand on the care they can provide. CNAs can provide basic medical care and personal care, while nurses can assess patients and residents and administer medications.
“RNs (registered nurses) are kind of scarce in long-term care,” says director of nursing Jenna Craig, RN. “I think there's a myth that you lose your skills in long-term care when you become a nurse, but that's not true.”
Attending nursing school requires a balancing act, both personally and professionally.
Fortunately for Anna and Cash, Comforcare offered flexibility to continue working while furthering their education. If they needed a day off or to swap a shift, it typically happened.
“To be able to find a place like this – really flexible, working with your schedule – that was amazing and really supportive financially,” says Reine, who joined Comforcare while she was in nursing school.
Jenna can attest to the challenges that come with nursing school – the time commitment, the wealth of information, the high bar for passing. She also understands the importance of growing your own and the kind of support it requires from leadership.
“I remember going through nursing school myself and it is definitely not easy. Flexibility is required,” she says. “I want people to feel safe here. I want them to feel supported. I want them to know that this is a place that you can not only work but also grow.”
Answering the call
Akoua, Reine, Anna and Cash also found support in each other. They have a group chat full of questions, concerns and encouragement shared among the four of them.
“Once we call on that, everybody knows to pick up their phone because something is up,” Anna says. “It doesn't matter what time somebody remembered something, we have to answer that call.”
Answering the call was something they did time and time again – and continue to do today. Anna says the patience they had for each other was “very amazing.”
“We reminded each other not to give up, and we celebrated the small victories together, even though sometimes we cried together,” she adds with a laugh.
They relied on each other for guidance for assignments and tips on how to study and better digest all the new information they were taking in. They also found accountability as a group.
“When I’d see Cash, sometimes I’d say, ‘Did you already start your assignment? You got two days to submit it,’” Reine laughs.
“I had less of a chance to miss an assignment,” Cash smiles. “That was a good part of it.”
‘We are going to continue caring for each other’
Akoua and Reine joined Comforcare as CNAs during their second semester of nursing school. They soon realized what Anna and Cash already knew – they’d found a place to call home.
“I saw how the team was taking care of the residents,” Reine says. “I was so impressed.”
Anna says it’s become more than a workplace for her. It feels like family.
Families celebrate together – like when residents joined the graduation party for the new nurses, who may as well have been their own grandchildren. They took pictures and shared hugs in celebration. One resident, a former teacher, even turned the tassels on their graduation caps.
“They were able to be involved in something that meant so much to us,” Cash says.
Akoua and Reine shed tears of joy at the celebration. Anna says she felt like she’d been accepted.
“The residents, we're a part of their lives every day and they got to be a part of their lives,” Jenna says.
Nurses are in high demand in long-term care. All four of these new nurses chose to remain at Comforcare.
“I love working here. I love how they value us,” Akoua says. “This is going be a good family and place to grow as a nurse.”
They’re taking care of the family they’ve come to know.
“It's just nice knowing that you're someone there taking care of somebody else's family member and that they're in good hands,” Cash says.
And they’re caring for the family they’ve grown.
“It’s like what we say in nursing: continuity of care,” Anna says. “We are going to continue caring for each other.”
