– HOME HEALTH AIDES SHARE JOY –
by James Coburn – staff writer
Two employees of AllFaith Home Care have a combined total of 45 years of service to their credit.
Trena Anderson and Ky’shawndra Whiteside, are both CNAs and home health aides at AllFaith Home Care, located in Edmond. Anderson has invested 25 years at AllFaith Home Care, located in Edmond. Whiteside will celebrate her 19th year in May. They know each other so well that they sometimes finish each other’s sentences.
“We all work together. It’s just a good company to work for,” Whiteside said.
Anderson earned her CNA credential at Metro Technology Center in Oklahoma City and became a certified home health aide after testing out at Moore Norman Technology Center. Whiteside completed both certifications at Metro Technology Center. (story continues below)
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Whiteside didn’t have a job when moving to Oklahoma from Texas. AllFaith owner Lisa Wariboko-Alali, RN, is Whiteside’s sister-in-law. When she left her home health job in Houston, she was offered employment by Alali.
“I’ve been here ever since. I like this type of work, helping others when they can’t help themselves,” Whiteside said.
Anderson met Alali when working in a doctor’s office. Alali noticed how kind and attentive Anderson was with her home health patients.
“She had some young kids at the time, and now they’ve grown,” said Alali, a pastor’s wife. “It’s kind of like the family grows together, and then the patients, they transition and we’re part of the family. If they hurt, we hurt.”
Providing care to clients at home not only enhances a patient’s quality of life. It also enriches the life of the home health aides, Anderson said.
Anderson loves connecting to the joy she sees on a patient’s face when visiting their homes. Not all clients have family members living nearby. They may not have visited them in weeks or months at a time.
“We see the smiles on their faces and how comfortable they feel. They take us in like we’re family,” Anderson said. “It’s just a blessing both ways to me. It’s very fulfilling.”
Alali has encouraged Anderson to become an LPN or RN, but Anderson said being a certified home health aide brings her closer to the life of a patient.
“We spend more one-on-one time with them,” Anderson continued. “I really enjoy that they feel safe and comfortable as I provide services and do my job.”
Providing loving services is what keeps her dedicated to a profession she felt called to do. She’s more than willing to provide extended care to patients needing food or something else from the store.
“We get them food. They don’t have to pay us back,” Anderson said. “It’s a blessing that we’re able to do it. I love what I do. My heart and passion is in what I do.”
A home health aide is a synergistic part of the nursing staff. Close attention allows Whiteside and Anderson to document and report even the most subtle changes in the life of a patient.
She enjoys learning about the decades of life her patients have lived. Her most elderly patient is a centenarian, who at 100, shares stories of her life experiences from many decades ago.
“You learn a lot going deep into their family. It’s a joy to help people, it really is — helping with things they can’t do for themselves,” Whiteside said.
She said the most difficult aspect of being a home health aide is when a patient she has been with for five or six years passes away.
“They all touch my life,” said Whiteside, who continues to follow her patients when entering hospice orleaving home health.
“We still keep in touch. When they get off our services, I’ll call them once a week to see how they’re doing. Some of them I’ll go by and see. I’m hard to get rid of,” she said laughingly.
Anderson is grateful for working where she can be of service in the right way. One’s heart and not a paycheck is reason enough for becoming a nurse, she said.
“You don’t do it for the money,” she said. “That’s in any job you do. If your heart’s not in it, you’re not going to stay long. You need to have a passion, and I do have a passion for serving the elderly and working with them.”
On days when her mood needs a lift, it is the elderly who cheer up the women. They keep their clients smiling, Whiteside said. And Anderson’s and Whiteside’s patients keep them smiling.
For more information on AllFaith Home Care visit: http://www.allfaithhc.com/
