We are happy to announce Maggie as our the Care Pro of the month for August!
In the early part of the COVID pandemic our daughter moved across the country for higher education; she was 22. For Greg and I that experience was full of excitement, unknowns and worries led by a deep faith in her ability to succeed.
Our Care Professional of the month had a parallel experience, except she moved across the world during the pandemic when she was 20 years old. We can only imagine how proud her family must be! Supporting young adults to reach for their unlimited potential is an incredibly rewarding part of Home Instead’s culture.
In the fall of 2022 we hired Maggie O, an International student at the University of Saskatchewan. She had moved to Canada from Ghana to be a nursing student in fall of 2020. Due to the COVID restrictions and online learning mandate she wisely decided to live in Halifax with a family member for her first year of her international studies. U of S courses were all online at that time so why not be with family? In Halifax Maggie found work with a home care company where she served elders and learned a skill set to build up her health care career; this made her employment application to Home Instead outstanding.
We rarely offer employment to a Care Pro who does not have their own vehicle and does not drive. However, at that time the company had a need for staff who could attend to a client living in a long-term care home overnight. A vehicle was not required for this assignment. I offered this assignment to Maggie and she was eager to take on the responsibility. I asked if she could arrange transport to the care home and she quickly agreed.
Unfortunately, shortly before her orientation with the company, Maggie shared that she had to make a short trip home to Ghana to attend a funeral of a very close family member. We were heartbroken for her and wondered how this would affect her. On her return she did not miss a beat and we realized this young woman had a deep store of personal strength; her resilience has presented itself to our team in many ways over the ensuing months.
The older adult we assigned to Maggie had many personal difficulties, such that she required around the clock one-on-one attention. The combination of mental health conditions along with a brain injury made her daily life a roller coaster of emotions and impulses. Without her team of Care Pros to ease her through her ups and downs she simply could not cope and the staff at the care home could not manage.
We have seen Maggie’s successful relationship with this client flowing from the impeccable self-discipline she presents; her consistent, kind, and constructive engagement with her client turns her days and nights into positive experiences.
Maggie has personally connected with her client through tenderness and firmness. She devoted herself to this woman and found ways to manage her emotional behaviours. When the connection formed, we heard her client expressing affection for Maggie. One other Care Pro serving the same client reported, “This morning I asked my client if she wanted to get up, she grumpily stated, “No! I’m going to lay here until 11:00pm, when Maggie comes, because I like her!!”
All of this has transpired over the past year and a half while Maggie has handled her academic work. Maggie sometimes accepts split shifts with her client and studies in between, finding a quiet corner to focus on her studies. Her academic and work performance, in light of her family member’s passing is outstanding. For a student here in Canada without parents, to be so responsible is highly commendable.
When our office team have the opportunity to see Maggie, we witness her personality and see how she wins over her clients. She is confident, respectful, genuine, joyful to be around, calm and has the best laugh ever!
Maggie congratulations on being named our Care Professional of the month. Keep up the great work, keep being you and keep finding your unlimited potential.
All client names have been changed for privacy.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (306) 931-4663 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
