Archive for ‘skills and attributes’

What Caring for Friends Taught Me About Direct Care Workers

Posted by Meriam Jawhar on January 31st, 2012 at 10:41 am | 1 Comment »

Meriam Jawhar

As an advocate for people with disabilities, I’ve always realized that they need certain supports. But becoming a caregiver for two of my friends gave me a whole new awareness of just how much professional caregivers really do, and the huge responsibility they have for another person’s life.

The first time I was put into the role of caregiver was in 2007. A close friend of mine, my compadre and my son’s godfather, had to go in for heart surgery. He was 78 and not very healthy physically, but mentally he was fine. He went into the hospital one way and 48 hours late he came out another: he had dementia as a result of the surgery.

Being the advocate that I am, I got him on a disabled and elderly waiver within six weeks. That provided 35 hours of home health attendant care, but I had to do the weekends and split overnights with some other friends of mine. I did that for eight months. Continue reading »

An Honest Day’s Work Deserves Fair Pay

Posted by Mohan Varghese on January 29th, 2012 at 11:48 am | 4 Comments »

A home care workers explains why we need to enact the proposed home care rule

Mohan Varghese

It is only just to give home health care workers the basic rights that are guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you look at any other job that’s non-salaried, they have those rights. If you work at a fast food place flipping burgers, you’re getting all those requirements met, but if you are providing home care you don’t.

I have worked three-plus years at a nursing home as a certified nurse aide and three years as a home health aide caring for a spinal cord injury patient. I do all the things in home care that I did in the nursing home and more. Some of the extras are simple tasks like cleaning and cooking. Others are much complex medical tasks that were done by licensed nurses in the nursing home, like urinary catheterization and administration of shots and other medications. Continue reading »

Why Direct Care Workers Must Be Treated as Professionals

Posted by Ameia Yen-Patton on January 9th, 2012 at 11:59 pm | 4 Comments »

Georgia P. Ameia Yen-Patton

I’ve been a long-term care nurse for over 25 years, most recently as a gerontological nurse practitioner. I started out as a nursing assistant, but it wasn’t until I went to graduate school in 2006 that I realized how many people, including us long-term care nurses, fail to give direct care workers the respect and professional recognition they deserve.

My PhD thesis is on the reciprocal ethical caring values that characterize long-time nursing assistants. Part of my research was on the relationships between nursing assistants and the nurses who manage them, so I talked to about a thousand nurses and nursing assistants at nursing homes in southeastern Massachusetts. (Stay tuned to this blog for more on my thesis, which I’ll write about as soon as it’s been cleared for publication.) Over and over, I heard the nurses say of the nursing assistants: “They do this because they can’t do anything else.” Continue reading »

DCA to Build on Momentum in 2012

Posted by Tracy Dudzinski on January 3rd, 2012 at 1:41 pm | 2 Comments »

DCA Board Chair Tracy Dudzinski

Dear Friends,

Thanks to the hard work of our direct care worker leaders and allies, we made a lot of progress in 2011, and there are many opportunities for continued success in 2012.

As DCA’s board chair, I am incredibly proud of the leadership and vision of DCA’s executive director, Leonila Vega, as well as DCA’s staff, members, volunteers, and allies. 2011 was a year of many milestones for the direct care workforce and the Direct Care Alliance, and I’d like to share some of the highlights with you. They only scratch the surface of what we accomplished in 2011, but they’re proof that our movement is growing stronger and direct care workers’ voices are being heard. I also want to tell you about some of the things we have planned for 2012.

The most exciting developments in 2011 were the responses we got from both the U.S. Department of Labor and Congress to the persistent advocacy of DCA and its allies to extend basic labor protections to home care workers. Just last month, DOL proposed a rule that would extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. And earlier last year, the Direct Care Job Quality Improvement Act was introduced by Senator Casey (PA) in the Senate and Representative Sánchez (CA) in the House. Continue reading »

Poems by Direct Care Workers: A Direct Care Worker Teaches the World to Love

Posted by David Moreau on December 12th, 2011 at 11:34 pm | No Comments »

David Moreau

She knows how to turn your mother’s body
to slide the wet Attends from under her,
to clean her peri area, so the skin does not turn red
and every day your mother tells her the same story -
she saw Yul Brynner in the King and I on her honeymoon
and every day the direct care worker
imagines
this frail packet of bones
a young woman amazed by the bright lights
and her new life.

Later she finds herself singing,
getting to know you, getting to know all about you…
and its comforting
enough to make it through her shift.

Working for Less than Minimum Wage

Posted by Clara Glenn on October 18th, 2011 at 9:02 am | 6 Comments »

Clara Glenn

I’ve been doing home care work for 30-some years, and I love it. I tell everybody I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You have to have a heart to do this work. You can’t just do it for no reason. You have to be dedicated. I always put God first in my life, and that carries me through.

About 15 years ago, I worked for a home care agency that paid less than minimum wage. The minimum was $5.15 at the time, and we were making $4.90. I think that was a reason a lot of the girls left. We stayed as long as we could and then we went on to other places.

I stayed because of the clients. I liked them and they liked me. We made our own little family, and that meant more to me than the money. As long as they were getting good care, that was really what mattered to me. Even now, some of their grandchildren send me Christmas cards and birthday cards and when they get married they call me up. They were like family, and I knew they needed help. Continue reading »

Care, Commitment and Coffee with Naomi Smith of Michigan!

Posted by Direct Care Alliance on June 13th, 2011 at 2:50 pm | No Comments »

At the 2011 Voices Institute Leadership Training, DCA communications director, Josh Sabato sat down to speak with direct care worker, Naomi Smith to discuss the most pressing issues facing direct care workers and how other activists can get involved in direct care advocacy in Michigan. DCA Speaks with Naomi Smith at 2011 Voices Institute Training.

Care, Commitment and Coffee Series Continues!

Posted by Direct Care Alliance on June 7th, 2011 at 1:27 pm | 1 Comment »

Your passion. Your job. Your future!

At the 2011 Voices Institute Leadership Training, DCA communications director, Josh Sabato sat down for conversations with workers and direct care advocates from around the country, discussing the most pressing issues facing direct care workers and how anyone can join the movement in their home state. This week we invite you to meet Noel Mendez, from the DCA’s Pennsylvania chapter! Watch Video

The National Voices Institute Experience – Part III

Posted by Direct Care Alliance on May 16th, 2011 at 4:24 pm | 2 Comments »

Joan Leah

Join Florida CNA Joan Leah on her journey to this year’s Voices Institute Training

My colleagues and I just completed the 2011 Voices Institute Leadership Training Program! It was a very intense, yet rewarding learning experience and I am honored to have graduated with some of the finest people I have ever met.

The investment that has been made by the DCA in this 2011 class is significant and it is now our responsibility to take the next steps to ensure our collective voices are being heard across the country. I have been armed with the tools necessary to advocate for the desperately needed changes to our long term care system, and I am fully focused on stepping up to the challenge of helping to create a more stable direct care workforce throughout Florida.

2011 DCA Voices Institute Training a Smashing Success!

Posted by Direct Care Alliance on May 16th, 2011 at 4:23 pm | 1 Comment »

Tracy Dudzinski

This letter was contributed by DCA Board Chair, Tracy Dudzinski.

Another VI class has come and gone and what a week it was! First off, I would like to thank all the workers who took the time to come to Wisconsin and develop their leadership skills. It was a wonderfully diverse group filled with the talented and inspiring people our movement needs to be successful in the coming weeks, months and years.

The 2011 Voices Institute was a full circle moment for me. I attended in 2008 as a worker and was privileged to come back this year and have the opportunity to expand my leadership skills as a facilitator. When I arrived on Saturday and walked in the front door of Taylor Hall the memories overtook me. It was like I was back in 2008 arriving as a student and I couldn’t wait to get started! It was an exciting week and I enjoyed watching the new class find their voice. Although some of our attendees were quiet at the beginning of our training, by the end of the week they blossomed like the magnolia tree in the garden, turning into the leaders who will expand this movement in all corners of the country.