The Role of Community Nurses
From being on the frontlines fighting COVID-19 to providing behind-the-scenes assistance that helps Touchmark residents live their {FULL} Lives, nurses play an essential but often thankless role in keeping our communities healthy and whole. This Nurses Week, we are honored to recognize all the nurses who work at Touchmark and share words from community leaders on the hard work and dedication that Touchmark nurses display every day.
Kristal MacNeil, Executive Director of Touchmark at Fairway Village, describes the unique role nurses play in the community: “To our residents, Touchmark nurses are their bonus children and grandchildren. They are the first people residents turn to. The nurses are friends, confidants, and healers to the residents. They celebrate each resident’s special day. It’s a gift that our team members have to make each day as special as possible and to show the compassion that each resident needs.
To the rest of the team, the nurses make it possible for each one of us to be here. They are the ones that help keep this ship running. They help keep the rest of us calm and fulfilled. Each of our nursing team members go above and beyond and make me proud to be part of this team. Nurses are a big part of our community taking care of our residents, leading our caregiving team, and having hard conversations with families. It takes a special person to do this.”
Specialized Support Roles
In addition to community nurses, Touchmark traveling nurses and on-call nurses are pillars of community life. These nurses travel between communities, filling in as needed while spreading positivity and fighting disease, and field calls from all communities. Touchmark President Jay Leo says of the on-call nurses, “always a helpful and sympathetic resource, the on-call nurses are available to answer and support community care teams working the night hours, which allows our community nurses to rest peacefully, knowing their phone will not awake them and that the community team and residents are under the on-call nurses’ capable and compassionate eyes.”
Leadership and Dedication
The care demonstrated by nurses day-to-day in each community extends to the leadership team as well. Vice President of Clinical Services Wendy Schrag, RN-BC, has been an invaluable part of the organization for 13 years. Touchmark CEO Marcus Breuer explains how, “Wendy provides top-caliber clinical services for our residents as well as important risk management services for our company. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the intensity and importance of both these roles have increased by orders of magnitude, and Wendy’s commitment and drive have scaled with the task. In honor of Nurses Week 2022, we thank her for her steadfast dedication to all.”
Thank you, nurses!
