The Oregon Caregiver SPRING/SUMMER 2022 www.ohca.com 32 PROFILE Kenisha Wilson Medication Technician, Our House of Portland LEADER Kenisha Wilson is currently a medication technician at Our House of Portland. She was honored as Caregiver of the Year at the 2021 OHCA Awards. In this interview, Kenisha talks about her passion for her job and her positive outlook as a leader in her community. How did you start your career in long term care? I was my mom’s in-home caregiver before she passed away in 2014. I’ve been doing this since I was in high school. It’s in my heart. I love to do it. I enjoy helping people get out and do stuff, getting them dressed, making them happy, and helping them feel good. It’s just in my nature. What’s the most rewarding part about caregiving? Everyone in my building is like a family. Most of the residents who live in my facility don’t have family to come visit with them, so I make sure I bond with them and let them know I have a listening ear. We can talk about anything. It’s really about making them feel good about themselves, trying to help keep them up instead of them being down. I just like being there for them and talking to them, taking them on walks, helping them get dressed… just doing whatever I can to make them feel good. Your work has been essential, especially during the last couple of years. What was that like for you working in a pandemic? I worked through the whole pandemic. Some days became stressful because it’s more about the residents than us really, but us still being there to provide our services, making sure they get their meals and their meds and just, you know, being there for them. It was hard for some of our residents because we had this one specific guy who liked to go to church on Sunday. We had to figure out what else he could do on Sundays. It was just about him getting out into the world instead of being at the facility because that impacted him a lot. We encouraged our residents who were stuck in our facility. We watched movies with him, whatever we could do to keep the blood flowing because at one point he had stopped taking his medicine, so we didn’t want him to go down that route. We made sure we checked in with him and made sure we were there for him. What kept you going when times were stressful and challenging? I know I had to be there for my residents. I was working seven days a week. A lot of people had started quitting and I’m like, I need to step up. We are a team; we had to stick together. You quickly moved through the ranks going from caregiver to lead caregiver and now med tech. What are your career aspirations? I might look into nursing eventually, but right now I’m fine with being the med tech and the lead caregiver because I’m training new staff and getting them up to speed. There are a lot of opportunities for growth at my facility so I’m in no hurry. Honestly, I’m really the only woman of color at my job and everyone respects me to the fullest. They love me just like I love them. We are a team, and we get along together. If we do have a problem, we can address it and get over it. I love it here. These are my people, and they are my family. Honestly, I’m really the only woman of color at my job and everyone respects me to the fullest. They love me just like I love them. We are a team, and we get along together. If we do have a problem, we can address it and get over it. I love it here. These are my people, and they are my family.
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