The way Stephanie Gavin sees it, life’s too short to work at a job that’s just a job.
“I decided a long time ago that I owed it to myself and the people I interact with to find something I’m passionate about,” Stephanie says. “My life’s work is here. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Stephanie, a Licensed Practical Nurse at The Village in Indianola, joined the community 10 years ago, starting as a homemaker before deciding she’d like to become a nurse. As she concentrated on her studies and on raising a family, she went PRN at The Village, then briefly worked elsewhere. But the community eventually beckoned her back.
“On February 17, 2012, I walked in as LPN, and I’ve never looked back,” she says. “This is my home.”
Stephanie, who works in memory care, attributes her satisfaction at The Village to the community’s leadership.
“They encourage you to focus on developing real relationships with the people we serve,” she says. “They staff appropriately so our caregiver-to-patient ratios are so much better than at other places, and our stress is so much less. We have time to actually care for and serve the people who are with us.”
She also credits her fellow team members with making The Village “more like a family than just a place where you come to earn your paycheck.”
“I know a lot of places say this, but we really care about our patients and their families, and about each other,” Stephanie says. “It takes a team to make a household flow the way it’s supposed to, from the nurses to a housekeeper we have who always takes time to play cards with one of our residents. There’s no ‘That’s not my job’ here.”
Team members also work to help one another meet their goals, she says.
“We all want this place to be the best it can be,” Stephanie says. “That’s why we’re a five-star health center; we work for that and we’re proud of it. One of our goals is to get to the residents’ call lights as fast as we can. We encourage each other to do that. And we treat our residents and their families just like we treat our own. It may sound silly, but we really love them.”
Stephanie can’t see herself living out her professional passions anywhere but with WesleyLife.
“A lot can happen and we never know what’s around the corner, but I really feel I’m meant to be here,” she says. “I wish everyone I know could feel about their jobs the way I do.”
