Early Start: Lucy Was Trained as a CNA at Age 16
Ask Lucy Petters to think back to her Sweet Sixteen celebration, and her biggest memory instead is becoming a CNA/caregiver. “I was still in high school in Africa when I started caregiving,” recalled Lucy, now a CAREGiver of the Month for Home Instead® of Littleton, Colorado.
Lucy actually had even more training than the typical CNA. “In Africa,” Lucy said, “you were not only trained as a CNA-caregiver, but you also were trained with everything that an LPN would need to know. You just didn’t have the ‘LPN’ title to go with the education. I worked as a CNA/caregiver in Liberia, West Africa, from 1984 until the civil war started in 1989,” explained Lucy, whose native country saw its civil war end in 1996.
“In my experience, I have come across all different kinds of people. I have had the privilege of working with mothers, fathers, grandparents, parents, sons, daughters, husbands and wives. In some homes, I may meet a challenging person or a kind person. However, my duty remains the same: make them safe, happy and satisfied.”
In the U.S., Lucy worked in a nursing home as a CNA from 2002 until 2012. When she wanted to “rest a little but not stop working,” Lucy went on the internet and saw Home Instead among other home-care services needing workers. She put in her application with Home Instead and a health-care company, and both accepted her, so Lucy tried to work for both companies. She said: “Home Instead was so very attentive to both its clients and CAREGivers that I resigned from the other position to stay with Home Instead. That is not to say anything bad about the other company.”
After having joined Home Instead in 2013, Lucy was honored as a CAREGiver of the Month in 2021 when Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Rebecca Rinn made the recent announcement about her award. “First of all, I want to thank God Almighty for touching the hearts of my bosses in the office, each worker and all of my co-workers who saw fit to choose me as the CAREGiver of the Month. God blessed you all,” Lucy said.
There are a number of advantages to working for Home Instead. Among her reasons, Lucy said:
- “What I like about Home Instead is that it listens to clients and CAREGivers if something unusual comes up. There are some facilities where they listen to the residents only.”
- “Home Instead will not send you where you don’t want to go. If you aren’t comfortable with an assignment, Home Instead will not force you to return.”
- “If something comes up, Home Instead listens no matter what time it is. As long as I am at work and I need help, someone will answer that call and help me as best as they can.”
Lucy pointed out: “During all my years of working with Home Instead, I tell my family, friends and those who are looking for a job, ‘Come to Home Instead.’ Sometimes friends ask me, ‘Why do you love Home Instead and always talk about them?’ This is always my answer is always the same: ‘Home Instead listens to the CAREGivers in addition to the clients.”
Lucy has some beautiful client memories.
“In 2015, I worked with a lady who had a beautiful daughter whose name was the same as my daughter’s. Every time we received a phone call and I said the name, she’d ask, ‘Is that your daughter or is it mine?’ Every time her daughter bought something for her, she would tell her daughter, ‘You know, Lucy is getting older too, so please get her one.’ What made it so funny was that it wasn’t just food but clothing and furniture also. Of course, I cannot accept gifts because that is against our policy. She was a sweet lady who did not understand. Sometimes she would keep me past the end of the shift. I know she was lonely,” Lucy said.
Reminiscing about another client, Lucy said: “I worked with another client who asked me every night when I was leaving my shift to please take her home with me. When I told her that the police would look for her, she told me, ‘We don’t have to let the police know where you live.’ She was so sincere that I would give her a hug, and we’d laugh.”
Lucy said she’s now assisting one of the sweetest people with whom she has ever worked. Lucy explained: “She has taught me how to bake every kind of cookie in the recipe book. She also has taught me how to make homemade bread, how to knit and how to make little decorations for all occasions. She has taught me how to make dishes I have seen only on television. When I work with sweet and kind people like her, it makes me forget all of the challenging situations I’ve faced. It also makes me remember why I begin a caregiver/CNA. It’s all worth it.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (303) 389-5700 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
