Eight months after Petey Hinostroza joined Home Instead® in Louisville, Colorado, she was honored as the franchise’s Care Professional of the Month, the office’s highest employee honor. Seven months earlier, Petey, a humble perfectionist, wasn’t sure she was cut out for professional senior care. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Things just can’t go 100 percent the way a Care Pro would want, and perfection is far from the goal.
“About a month into the job, Petey tried to resign because she said she wasn’t sure she was cut out to be in professional senior care. Our franchise owner, Mike Lammers, quickly talked her out of it, and she’s continued to do a fabulous job since,” Home Instead Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro said.
Mike knew Petey’s heart from the beginning of her time with the award-winning Home Instead franchise of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties. Pointing out that a franchise owner doesn’t often provide orientation for new employees, Brenda explained: “I forget what was happening on training day with our regular trainer, but Mike trained Petey. She had no experience and has turned into one of our best, most reliable hard-working Care Pros.”
Petey, a 2020 graduate of Centaurus High School in Lafayette, Colorado, works many hours, including overnight shifts, Brenda said. Petey is in demand.
Perhaps her clients always feel Petey’s compassion and empathy on the days and nights she shows up to assist them. Those are two of the characteristics that are evaluated when a Care Pro is considered for the employee of the month award. Of course, there are others. Has the Care Pro gone above and beyond the call of duty? Does the Care Pro possess the skills and wisdom to be highly successful? Is the Care Pro exceptional at her work with any client? Finally, does the Care Pro focus on Home Instead’s training, processes and procedures of successful caregiving? In other words, does the Care Pro work at getting better?
For Brenda, Mike and the other Home Instead staff members, the answers were yes. When Brenda announced Petey had been honored as Care Pro of the Month, Brenda said Petey displays Home Instead’s guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
In addition to her strong companionship skills, Petey provides safety assurance, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and transportation and errands. Petey offers personal assistance with eating, grooming, dressing, bathing, incontinence care, cognitive impairment, hospice support and mobility. By expertly doing so, Petey and her fellow Care Pros not only assist their clients, but help their families eliminate worry, reduce stress and re-establish personal freedom.
To build on their knowledge and experience, Petey and other Louisville Care Pros are offered the opportunity to increase their dementia-care skills by taking part in the Home Instead network’s one-of-a-kind training protocol. Home Instead’s Person-Centered Care Training for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias is recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association® for incorporating the evidence-based dementia-care practice recommendations in these topic areas: Alzheimer’s and dementia, person-centered care, assessment and care planning, activities of daily living, and behaviors and communication.
Brenda and Mike are hoping Petey’s stay with Home Instead will be a long one. “We need more Care Pros like her,” Brenda said.
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (720) 890-0184 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
