Being able to progress her nursing career has meant a lot for Tanesha Redmond, a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) at Riverside Convalescent Center in Mathews.
"After starting out as a personal care aide, I wanted to further my career," said Redmond. "I went to Riverside Nursing School and got my CNA, and now I'm hoping to become a Registered Nurse this spring."
As a young mother with children, Redmond was worried it might be challenging to raise a family while building a career.
But family values are core values at Riverside, whose staff was extremely supportive of Redmond's skills and professional goals.
"The director of nursing told me that I would be a great nurse," Redmond said. "And I thought about it, but I had kids, and she said 'Don't let the kids stop you, we're going to help you as much as we can.'"
Redmond is grateful for the opportunity to grow and work with teams of other outstanding caregivers, "because teamwork is always the best work."
And putting smiles on patients' faces each and every day makes the hard work more than worthwhile.
"I get so much fulfillment out of knowing that my patient is happy with what I'm doing, even though they might not know who I am," she said. "The next day, they always tell me how much they appreciate what I do for them. And that makes me happy."
According to Redmond, being a successful nurse really comes down to having a heart and treating patients like family.
"I'll tell anybody who wants to come into nursing –make sure you have a heart. If you don't have a heart, it's not for you," she said.
"It's not about the money –it's about treating everyone like family."