I read an irreverently honest blog about nursing homes at Senior Housing Forum that recommended the Pioneer Network Conference. I paid my own way to the conference and didn’t get paid time off from work but instead was “written up” and possibly fired for going to the conference.
Once or twice a year I get an amazing email that just begs to be shared. This is one of the most powerful things I have ever received and I am sharing it with you after receiving permission from the sender. – Steve Moran
THE SHORT VERSION (Tamara’s initial response to how she came to attend the Pioneer Network Conference)
I read an irreverently honest blog about nursing homes at Senior Housing Forum that recommended the Pioneer Network Conference. I paid my own way to the conference and didn’t get paid time off from work but instead was “written up” and possibly fired for going to the conference.
THE LONG VERSION
About a month ago, I started my normal daily routine of sitting down at my computer, blurry eyed with my first cup of coffee in hand, and opened the Senior Housing Forum site. The headline grabbed me and made my eyes open a little wider….”Nursing Homes Suck”….. I silently said a resounding “THANK YOU!” for the truth I was about to read. Although the article was filled with courageous truths and appropriate professionalism, I didn’t think it went far enough to tell the real/whole story with correlating solutions and I finished the article feeling a bit let down. To my surprise, many people were outraged by this article, requiring the author to perform “damage control” and respond to the masses. In one of the responses, the author recommended that the outraged reader attended the Pioneer Network’s national conference to gain some insight as to how we can change nursing homes so they don’t suck! I immediately thought, “If this conference attracts people who are willing to rock the boat (as evidenced by the article title) and come up with ways to make our nursing homes better, then that’s where I need to be!” Within the hour I had registered for the conference and left a message for my supervisor about needing a few days off to attend the conference, which would begin in 23 days.
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
I am a physical therapist who works in a nursing home. I treat the patients in the skilled nursing facility as well as the residents of the long-term care, independent, assisted living and memory care neighborhoods within the same building. While I don’t officially work for the community, I work for a rehab company that has had a contract with this community for many years. The day after registering for the Pioneer Network Conference, I returned to work to find a note on my desk saying that I cannot have the time-off to go to the conference because it would be too difficult to cover my caseload for the 3 days I requested off. I spoke with my supervisor who said, “I hope you didn’t already pay for the conference because I’d really hate to see you waste your money before you even asked for the time off!” My response, “I really love working for this company and hope we can find a way to work this out, but if not, then you need to tell me so I can start looking for another job. ” I absolutely understand that my supervisor was simply doing his job. I was just naively hoping for a little support and maybe even some encouragement for following my passion to help those that our rehab company serves! Just before leaving for the conference, my supervisor stopped me to say that I will be “written up” for taking time off without approval, even though I gave more than 3 weeks’ notice. The conference is now over and even as I sit here writing this letter, I’m not sure I have a job to go back to, considering that during the conference I received a text from my supervisor saying “we need to talk”! It’s funny that all the drama leading up to how I arrived at the conference didn’t even really occur to me until people began to ask for the details. The only reason I told the story was because it made people laugh! For those at the conference, it seemed borderline insane to reprimand a person for giving their own money and time to learn how to do a better job. I was just happy to have “found my tribe”, as Nancy Fox phrased it! Never before have I been surrounded by so many people who see how differently and better we can serve our Elders. I was disheartened to read that most of the attendees of the Pioneer Network Conference don’t read SeniorHousingForum. I know that the ones who listened to my story were eager to write down your name and the web address to learn more. It would have been wonderful to have met you at the conference so I could thank you in person for writing your blog, for being an honest voice for change and for inspiring me to go to the Pioneer Network Conference. If you hadn’t written the article with the controversial title, then followed up with the recommendation to attend the Pioneer Network Conference, then I would never have experienced the personal growth and opportunities that are destined to come from the interactions I had at the conference.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! From a faithful Senior Housing Forum reader, Tamara Pape Tamar’s LinkedIn Profile
Tamara, Thank you for coming to the Pioneer Network meeting. And consider presenting next year in Kansas City.. Welcome to the tribe! Anna Ortigara, President, Pioneer Network Board
Tamara-
Yes- I believe you have found your tribe. There are hundreds- even thousands (though not yet millions, which is what we need) of people who not only believe, but absolutely know that we can change the culture of aging. We know that living with an aging body that doesn’t work as well as it used to doesn’t mean we aren’t worth anything. Or that even when we experiences changes in cognition, we are still human– just like everyone else. We don’t need to give up on the people who have come before us–they just have more life experiences than we do–which should be prized, not denegraded.
So I hope you not only still have your job,but that your company and supervisor recognize the leadership role are your taking by forging on ahead with what you know is right. And if they don’t, then you deserve a better place to work.
Thank you, Anna and Maggie, for welcoming me to the tribe!
Maggie, your words seem to come from my own thoughts.
So often with my skilled nursing patients I see imposed helplessness and disempowerment as family members, medical professionals, and society in general treat them as “less than” they were before changing residences. I see all the experience and knowledge that my patients possess but they have been told (in not so subtle ways) that they are “less than” and as a result we as a society lose out on the opportunity to learn from these Elders.
I believe it was during your session at the Pioneer Network Conference that Alan DeLaTorre said the “aging population is one of the few growing natural resources in our country.” I imagine all the revolutionary innovations and solutions to current societal and global issues that are just waiting for us to discover from our Elders if we would empowered them to realize their own potential.
My perspective about what “right looks like” is forever changed because of the knowledge I gained at the Pioneer Network Conference. My professional life now seems to be divided into Pre-Pioneer Network Conference 2013 and Post-Pioneer Network Conference 2013.
Even before the conference I felt a growing dissatisfaction with working in the skilled nursing setting because I felt so limited in the scope of impact I could influence through direct, one-on-one patient care. Now that the conference is over, I’m not sure what I will do professionally. As I related my quandary to Nancy Fox, she expressed her understanding by saying that once your eyes are opened, you can never go back to living in the dark…(loosely rephrased, as I struggle to recount her exact words)
At the conference Dr. Bill Thomas said, “Our field will not change until we decide we aren’t willing to do it the old way anymore.” Well, I’m not willing to do it the old way anymore! Even with my current uncertainty and trepidation, I enter this new chapter of my professional life with boundless excitement as I feel that I am closer than ever to having the positive impact for change that I yearn for in the care of our Elders!
Perhaps I will see you and Anna in Kansas City at the Pioneer Network Conference 2014 and we can recount the exciting progress that has been made over the past year!
Tamara Pape
Howdy! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my good old room mate!
He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to him.
Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thank you for sharing!