By Steve Moran

Oh, how I wish I had thought of this!

There has been, rightfully, a lot of press about the exhausting, heroic, and dangerous work of nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals during the coronavirus pandemic. Working even harder, in more trying circumstances, with less in reserve are the frontline senior living team members. And, except inside our own industry, no one is talking about them.

If Only They Were a Part of This

Christine Danderand, a make-up artist knows how hard nurses like her mother have been working during the coronavirus pandemic and wanted to do something to let them know how much their sacrifices are appreciated. So, back in November, she started a Facebook group called “ADOPT A NURSE/HEALTH CARE WORKER”, where she invited these professionals to post a little bit about themselves and an Amazon Wish List.

That group today (December 16, 2020) has more than 25,000 members, and more than 1,000 adoptions have taken place. There are a bunch of posts by people who work in senior living and it looks like a bunch of them have been adopted.

A Missed Opportunityadopt a nurse

This is a missed opportunity for us to highlight the unique value we provide and the amazing passion and commitment our frontline workers have.

This effort has garnered national press on Good Morning America, CNN, and nearly every other major media outlet. Imagine the kind of positive press senior living could have received if it had been for senior living workers.

No blame here, unless maybe it is me and my team. This is exactly the kind of thing we love doing and seems so obvious in retrospect.

It’s Not Too Late

At this point, it is kind of second-best but the group will continue to be active until December 21. This means:

  1. There is still time for you to tell your frontline senior living workers about this. 
  2. There is time for you to join the group, find a senior living worker, and say thanks with a gift. This is part of my plan. 

There is still something we can do with this, or maybe next Christmas, or maybe to celebrate the end of the pandemic, or something else.

If you participate or some of your team members, do we would love to hear about it.