Annette Cadenhead has spent most of her 25-year nursing career working with geriatric patients, and she loves being someone they can talk to. Sometimes the conversations focus on the individual’s personal history or what frightens them about the future, but it’s always a critical part of the care she provides. “I’m a calming influence and take a seat at their level. Sometimes I just listen, because all of us need to know we’re being heard, and that may be enough to make a difference,” said Cadenhead.
A nurse within Memorial’s healthcare system for the past three years, Cadenhead focuses on being happy and strives to ‘make it a good day’ (a frequently-used expression) each time she comes to work. “It takes the right personality to be effective in this environment, since there are times when people get sad. But we’ve got a family at the manor and take care of each other.”
