Careers in Aging Caregiver Profile
Shedena Alexander, CNA, Activities Director at Island Lake Center in Longwood
As the Activities Director at Island Lake Center, I have found my true calling. I can spend quality time with my residents each day, and the smiles on their faces are my validation that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.
I started working in long-term care over 30 years ago as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). When I first started as an aide, I didn’t have the same passion in my heart for long-term care that I do now. At the time, I was a young mother who just needed a reliable source of income and benefits.
Little did I know, one of my residents could tell that my heart was not in my work, and one day that resident taught me a lesson I will never forget. This 105-year-old woman looked me in my eyes and told me if I didn’t want to be there, I should leave. She explained that the residents in the center did not choose to be dependent on people helping them with basic daily functions. It was a life-changing conversation for me to understand what it was like for residents to experience such a significant transition in their lives as they enter long-term care. How it felt to be so independent your entire adult life, raising and caring for your children, and now to ask staff who you barely know sometimes to help you with things we take for granted like eating, bathing, and brushing your teeth.
That day I was humiliated, embarrassed, ashamed, and humbled all at the same time. That day of reckoning truly made me a better person, it made me more mindful of my environment, more compassionate, more caring, and more loving. From that day forth I came to work with a smile on my face and in my voice.
I happily continued my career as a CNA until I accidentally fell and broke my shoulder in three places in 2020. As if 2020 wasn’t bad enough due to the pandemic, I felt like when my residents needed me the most, I was going to be unable to physically take care of them.
That is when I learned that good deeds do not go unnoticed. I was unaware that my Administrator observed me on many occasions “going above and beyond with my residents” and saw something in me that I did not see in myself. She shared that she had noticed things I did in addition to my daily CNA duties, such as reading the Bible to residents who enjoyed it, singing with my patients while getting them ready in the morning, and making sure they had something to do during the day. My Administrator suggested that with this passion for providing residents with quality of life, I should further my education and become certified to become an Activities Director. I moved into the position of Recreation Aide, and immediately fell in love with the department’s ability to provide meaningful activities and social events for our residents. I worked to obtain my certification through APNCC and became the Activities Director at my center in October of 2023.
In long-term care, we have the opportunity to meet and care for the most interesting people while listening to their stories, achievements, and hopes for themselves and their families. I enjoy encouraging my residents to continue doing what they love, and most importantly I enjoy giving them inspiration to live, laugh and love. I am Shedena Alexander, and in case I forgot to mention it, I love my career, my residents, my families, and my team of coworkers.