This is me when I pivoted from a staff nurse from MGH to Courtyard Nursing Care Center in 1992. I was 28 years old here and pregnant with my second child. It was owned by ADS back then. I have experienced so much in the years from then to now but the relationship that has been consistent in my career path has been my connection to Courtyard Nursing Care Center and Long term Care. Some of the original staff that I began my journey with are still employed there.

Fast forward 2023 At 58 I still have a working relationship with Courtyard and now it is owned by Genesis Healthcare. Below is a photo of me a couple of years ago having fun with the Easter Bunny.

I have had jobs in between the years from my start at Courtyard up to the present. I was promoted to a Director of Nurses for one of Courtyard’s sister homes once I came back from Maternity leave. ADS at the time mentored me and taught me a great value system to ensure the residents in my charge were receiving the best care possible. I used my time as a Director of Nurses to learn all the roles in the Nursing Home industry. I wanted to make sure that I understood what each of my colleagues challenges were while trying to meet the regulations.

I remained in the role of a Director of Nurses but did change companies based on life circumstances and the need to pivot to care for my school age children and aging parent. The great thing about nursing is there are various avenues to pursue if life has other plans for you. I did just that and tried being a nurse at a school but I found that my calling was Long term care. I also had my own Consulting business for 10 years but I closed it due to the need to care for my own father whose health had declined. I decided that I wanted to spend my time with him while he was still with us. You can always pivot your career but you can never get back time with the ones you love.

In 2011 I pivoted my career back to my roots of being a reimbursement nurse and went back to Courtyard. They welcomed me with open arms and helped me learn the new 3.0 rules for completing the MDS. The last time that I was responsible to complete the MDS it was the 2.0 version. The best part of working for Genesis for the last 12 plus years is that I have been able to grow and learn. I went back as the Long term Care MDS Nurse and then became the Lead MDS Coordinator for the facility. Genesis continued to invest in me and taught me skills to become a Clinical Analyst for the Northern Region.

Then in 2019, I was diagnosed with breast Cancer. The Courtyard team who I view as my extended family rallied and supported me through my journey. I was able to take my time to recover and figure out what I could and couldn’t do anymore. Now, I could have left nursing due to the physical limitations I continued to have due to complications from the treatment but that was not in the cards for me. Genesis once again supported my growth and encouraged me to apply for a Regional CRM position. Once again, I was mentored from some of the best in the industry and I am very grateful for that.

I am now excited to be pivoting again in my career. I am continuing to work with Genesis but I have also opened my own business call Skilled Nursing Support. I am excited to have the time to blog about what is important to me and my colleagues. I am also launching educational courses on the Mastermind.com Platform. I have posted my first one and plan on several more. The next one is due out soon. My goal is to give back to the skilled nursing care community that I call home. I am excited in this phase of my journey to be able to have work life balance. It is the life path of sharing my time with my Husband, Children, Grandchildren, and extended family as well as working on sharing my knowledge that I have gained expertise in to my extended work family. I look forward to following and reading posts from my fellow connections.

Please follow my journey at https://mariamessina.mastermind.com/masterminds/44728

maria.messina@skillednursingsupport.com