About Us
Who and Why
Who Am I?
Hi there, my name is Carisa. I'm so happy you are here!
When I graduated my nursing program in 1995 in Oklahoma, I thought I had it figured out... like most young nurses I wanted to deliver babies! That quickly faded as I entered my first job as a night shift nurse in a teaching hospital, working on several different floors as a "float nurse". I gained valuable experience in adult acute care, working in Neurology, Oncology, General Medical, General Surgical, and Orthopedics. After two years I began working for a staffing agency, still working in hospitals taking care of the acutely ill. It was there I had the opportunity to become certified in Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS). I loved it! Most nurses look at me sideways when I say that, but I did. That certification on my resume eventually gained me a position back at that teaching hospital on a cardiac step-down floor. I was often the one in charge when emergencies happened, and I gained an incredible amount of knowledge. After a few years, I found myself in a smaller, community-based hospital that had the top cardiothoracic surgery program in the state, and the only surgeon in the state that performed "beating heart" bypass surgery. I quickly became a "heart nurse", primarily assisting those patients who had just undergone open heart surgery when they came to the ICU. I had a tough surgeon to work with; it was the classic scenario of nurses being afraid to call when they had questions because he was so tough on them. I figured out the best way to earn his trust was to know the answer before calling. I studied methods of cardiothoracic surgery and recovery as if I was preparing to be the surgeon! I did not like not having the answers either. Soon, I was the surgeon's most trusted and valued heart nurse. I trained many others to skillfully take care of these patients and helped write and rewrite protocols. After 9 1/2 years in that ICU, the surgeon had moved on to another state program, and I had transferred to case management. A nurse I had worked with formerly in the ICU ran into me one day and on the spot offered me a position as the nursing director in the Assisted Living where she worked. That was my introduction to Senior Living, and it stuck. I eventually moved to Colorado, where I continued on my Senior Living path. I have been an administrator now for more than 7 years with tremendous success in changing culture, building relationships and reputation, stabilizing census and finances, and creating other successful leaders. That feeling of never wanting to not know the answer has pushed me to develop a wide knowledge base and an eagerness to share it with others.
The Three Hs
In Senior Living, you often find Hyperbole. "Our community is the shiniest! Look it has a state-of-the-art entertainment center in the theater!" "We have only the best granite countertops and decorator lighting of all the communities in the area." "Our team is hand-picked and specially trained to provide only the best care out there". Take some tours, and you'll see a lot of what we call Feature-Dumping. The truth is, these are often things the Influencer is more interested in than the Senior. The Influencer may be an adult child, or a concerned neighbor. The Seniors themselves typically want comfort, compassion, and often companionship. That state-of-the-art entertainment system is often a steep learning curve and can make a Senior feel even more dependent.
You also find Hypocrisy. I'll say it's not the folks doing the real work of senior living... the caregivers and nurses and administrators are generally filled with that compassion that Seniors are searching for. The business side of things can often feel like it's more about charging dollars than changing lives, even though the motto might be "#ChangingLives". For the people doing the Good Work, this can be disenfranchising. We just want to provide great care and support to these valued and important people!
That's where the 3rd H comes in, and why I called this project "The Heart of Senior Living". it's HEART. You can find it around every corner, if you look. The caregiver that has come in an extra shift because their peer has a sick child at home and they want to be sure all the residents get their laundry done tonight. The nurses who fret over the resident in Assisted Living who has early dementia and is starting to wander, knowing that the strain of a move into Memory Care will stretch the family and finances and probably cause a further decline in the resident's cognition. The administrator who is at the office late hours, working and reworking planned spending to be sure we can provide a memorable holiday meal for those without families to take them to their homes.
What matters most is that we do care. I tell my teams, "It is what we do in these walls that makes a difference, and while we have policy to follow and progress to prove, it's how we do our day-to-day that matters to those who live here." Hopefully, by bringing my years of both nursing and Senior Living knowledge to these pages here, I can help ease some of that journey for you no matter which path you are on.