Nurses, caretakers doing all they can to make sure patients are safe and feel at home

Right now, nurses and caretakers are forced to do things they never dreamed of — they’re doing everything they can to make sure they can still be with their patients and nursing homes, but face challenges as they work overtime in a crisis.

It’s a tough job.

“I like the challenge. Each resident is different,” said Lovely Senatus, a MedTech at Pacifica Senior Living and she truly lives up to her name. “We are family. I mean we have our differences, our challenges but at the end of the day, we are a family. They’re here for me, I’m here for them.”

Senatus works 16-hour days three days a week.

“My day to day life coming here, it’s always in a positive, get ready to go, because this is my second home,” she said.

She’s one of many heroes working in senior living facilities who have changed their day-to-day operations to keep people safe.

“It turned like 180 degrees,” said Luz Hendricks, director of nursing at Arden Courts Assisted Living Facility.

“Trying to stay sanitized, trying to keep the masks on, it was hard, it is hard, but we try our best,” said Pacifica Senior Living MedTech Kenya Allen. 

“We make sure that, you know, that their rooms are sterile, make sure there is no feces, no urine, no nothing on the floor, make sure the residents are safe,” said Carmen Castano, a housekeeper for Pacifica Senior Living.

While these MedTechs, caretakers, nurses and cleaning staff are there to do a job, there’s a more challenging task at hand.

“It’s a little hard sometimes, you know, with them missing their family, but we’ll try to assure them they’ll be able to see them and we try to be as close as family to them as they can get,” said Crystal, a caregiver at Arden Courts.

They hope soon that families and loved ones can come back for normal visits. Until then, these heroes promise to be there no matter what.

“They put a smile on your face, that’s what I can say,” Senatus said.