CAREERS IN NURSING
A HELPING HAND: LPN SHARES THE JOY OF HOME HEALTH CARE
by James Coburn – Writer/Photographer
Beth Mayer has found her niche as an LPN working as a home health nurse with Companion Healthcare Home Health and Hospice.
In 2012 Mayer earned her nursing credentials after graduating from Platt College in Oklahoma City. She began her career at what was then called Logan Medical Center. It is now Mercy Hospital Logan County.
“I worked there until I came over here part time and then I really enjoyed the change of pace at Companion Home Health,” she said. “The people that own this company are amazing and that’s what drew me. They’ve got a good Christian background. Everyone we service is so happy with this company.”
Coming to Companion last year was in a sense a homecoming for Mayer. She actually worked with most of the staff at the hospital. The nursing staff has a close bond, she continued.
“It’s a place you can come in and just laugh,” Mayer said.
She said it is alright to let others know when frustrations arise. She works with all of her friends and they are part of a team that works together for the betterment of each patient.
The nursing staff chose their careers not because of a pay check but to make a positive difference in humanity.
“We are all very similar in that we are compassionate and have a super heart,” Mayer said of her buddies. She enjoys educating patients and their family members about recovery needs.
Mayer encourages the community to learn about the advantages that home health provides in improving the lives of people. She said home health is awesome for people who can’t leave their homes for therapies and wound changes. It’s all provided in the comfort of their home where they retain more independence.
“We do some wound changes every day,” she said. “So for someone who has to take a trolley every day, that’s very expensive and so I think it saves them money. It’s in the comfort of their own home. And not everybody has family that’s readily available to come and take them to all of their appointments.”
Family members share in that comfort as well.
Having a nurse monitor their loved one’s vital signs and help them to be their personal best gives peace of mind.
Some of her patients may have been released from a hospital or skilled nursing center. Others were identified by Companion with wound care and other needs before they might have gone to a hospital, Mayer continued.
“We get a lot of people from the hospital. A lot are just referred from their doctors,” Mayer said. “Maybe they got pneumonia and they have weakness and need a couple of weeks of therapy to build back up.”
Having a career helping other people makes Mayer feel enriched in life. As a child she was always the little girl making the neighborhood rounds to visit elderly people.
“I think I’ve always had that want to give back,” she said. “It makes me feel good to do something nice for somebody.”
Right out of high school Mayer went to massage school in Oklahoma City and loved her new career for about 10 years. It was therapeutic for her because she loves to help heal people and make them feel better, she said.
“It’s hard on your body. I had kids and just needed a change,” Mayer explained.
Both her mom and aunt are nurses, so she easily gravitated to a nursing career. Today it makes her feel good, especially when a patient tells her that she made their day better.
“That’s what it’s all about,” she said.
Mayer takes care of her family as well as a mother of three boys engaged in sports. She and her husband also enjoy going to a lake near Stillwater.
“It’s relaxing to me just sitting at night when the kids go to bed,” she said.
