An authentic heart for care

In twelfth grade, while her peers daydreamed about after-school plans and post-high school life, Ashley Moore was hunkering down to earn her Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license.

Now a CNA at the Oaks Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center (and winner of the recent OnShift Engage reward drawing), Moore says, “Anybody can get their license, but you have to have a heart in it. You can’t do it if you don’t have a heart in it.”

Moore’s “heart in it” shows through in how she embodies Consulate’s core values, particularly “compassion” and “honesty,” which she considers most crucial in this line of work.

Like many exceptional Consulate employees, Moore adopts an attitude of authenticity. “We have some residents who come in here, and they’re so used to their home, and they might have a bad day, and you can sit down and talk to them, and with honesty, just tell them, well, I know you don’t want to be here, but we’ll take care of you, and try to get them used to the care center.”

Moore explained that she—along with her fellow Oaks staff—interact with “people of all different kinds of personality.” Similar to Forrest Gump’s “box of chocolates” analogy, Moore said, “You don’t know what you’re going to get when you come in.” Luckily, armed with Consulate’s core values, The Oaks staff arrives prepared.

Moore’s tactic is compassion, empathy, and the power of listening. She takes the time to find common ground with residents and figures out what makes them happy, whether that’s playing their favorite games, socializing, taking walks, or going out into the garden to plant flowers.

Moore hit the heart of it: “We’re here to take care of the residents. To make sure it’s safe for them, and to make it feel like home. To show them as much love as we can, because a lot of them don’t have family. So that’s why we’re here. We’re here to take care of them and make them feel love.”

Propelled by this mission, Moore advised fellow CNAs to work with a positive attitude. As a result of her mindset and dedication, Moore clocked in enough hours and points to enter the Oaks’s spring 2019 OnShift Engage drawing. With luck on her side, Moore won a new Lenovo laptop!

While prizes and recognition certainly didn’t drive Moore or her coworkers into the senior health care field, that additional encouragement can sure help occasionally. Moore said the OnShift Engage program has instilled an even greater impetus for her team to pick up extra shifts; however, perhaps the most powerful influence of the program is simpler. In an often thankless job, Moore said: “It shows that we’re appreciated.”