Compassion over the decades

In her 42 years working at Ashland Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Stephanie Fields has worn different hats and lent her skills to different departments of care, such as activities and restorative; however, being a compassionate CNA has remained her primary role throughout the years.

Nominated for exemplifying all 5 of Consulate Health Care’s core values (compassion, honesty, integrity, respect, passion), Fields emphasized the importance of “compassion” and “honesty” in particular.

Fields knows that a deeper understanding of others’ perspectives can help with extending compassion, especially in the senior health care profession. It can prove difficult for many older adults to release some of their independence and trust the care center staff. In Fields’s words: “You need to understand the residents. Sometimes they don’t want to be in this place, so you got to work with them and treat them like family, so they feel comfortable in this building.”

Alicia Carter, Staffing Coordinator at Ashland Nursing and Rehab, described Fields as an asset to the Ashland team, and wrote that she “goes above and beyond to make sure the patients have everything they need. She will offer her help to other team members to ensure the residents are provided with the best care. . . The residents and employees love her.”

Fields said she follows in the footsteps of those who trained her when she was just starting out in her career. Ever since, Fields has been a faithful veteran of Ashland Nursing, and Consulate Health Care is lucky to have her as a part of the company!

Of her mission at Ashland, Fields said: “I want to make their lives better and help them live a better life. Even if they’re in a nursing home, they can still feel at home. Make them comfortable living here, and if they’re comfortable living here, then they don’t mind staying.”

Fortunately, the reassurance, compassion, and encouragement often goes both ways. Fields said she receives many compliments from residents, both inside the care center and beyond. She explained: “I’ve seen some out in public after they’ve left here. It makes me feel good that they remember me, and they tell me I left an impact on their lives.”

Fields’s advice for other CNAs and anyone else working in health care invokes serious integrity and work ethic, and applies to just about anyone, in any line of work: “Do your best. Everything will work out okay if you do your best.”