We were lucky to catch up with Sherry Irvin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sherry, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I started my first job in the healthcare field in River Falls, Wisconsin, I was newly married, and my husband was obtaining his B.S degree in Biology and I knew that I needed to gain employment in order to pay the rent, so, I applied to the only nursing home facility within the town, I had no formal training, but they hired me on the spot, and I was paid to go through CNA training classes, ‘I loved being around the elderly population and because I was caring and empathic person many of the residents shared amazing stories of their lives and their pearls of wisdom, which have served me well even today.
I found out very quickly that this line of work was not easy, and the workload was incredibly heavy and very often we were short staffed.
I was a fast learner, and I graduated and became a full-fledged CNA with a fulltime schedule and as the months went by, I really enjoyed the fast-paced environment and being able to spend time with my residents.

As much as I found joy in my job, I also experienced that great sadness also is part of this job field, it was my first winter living in River Falls and the flu was started to spread through the nursing home like wildfire and many of the frail residents didn’t have the strength to pull through, at first it didn’t affect me because none of my residents were affected yet and the nursing home had put in place many protocol’s to try to contain the outside world from bringing in anymore sickness, but eventually my time came and three of my residents succumbed in one day and I wasn’t prepared for the first time that I needed to clean and dress a body after death and I honestly don’t know how I made it through that day cleaning three and when I got home that night after working a double shift I seriously wasn’t sure I had the courage to face the next day with the probability of more residents dying, but I did go back and continued to give each of my residents the same standard of care.

Then a week later, my three resident’s families came in at different times to talk to me, my charge nurse at the time knew when they were arriving because they all made appointments to see me, at first, I was terrified because I was new, but each of those families thanked me for all the care that I provided their loved ones, I was told by each of the families that their loved ones appreciated the fact that I valued them as a person and didn’t brush them off as just being old and they had something to say.
it was in that moment I realized that I found my place and my greatest blessings wasn’t from the care I was providing but from being able to learn and communicate and to advocate for the aged population because we all may get there one day and my hope that I too will have a caring individual taking care of me.
That was my defining moment because I knew that I would dedicate my life to serving our vulnerable population and it was the greatest decision of my life because I believe that that if you’re going to spend over 80 percent of your life working you should enjoy what you do, and I truly do.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Sherry Irvin, I am married to my husband Matt for 31 years and we have raised two adult sons Adam and Ethan, I work with adults with Developmental Disabilities at Cardinal of MN in a group home setting. I love working with this population of people because no day is the same, my clients are always excited to see you and I love seeing all that they can accomplish. My education level is high school and above, I obtained an Associate of Science for Law Enforcement, and I am a EMT – I.

I am very active within my community; I serve as a lead Ambassador with the Rochester area Chamber of Commerce, and currently serving on four boards,” Music lesson for All”,” Ability Building Community”, Vice President of” Veterans Emergency Services Museum” and President Elect for “The Rochester Exchange Club”
In my spare time I am a freelance Writer, and I love to model fashion clothing for a few of our local businesses and I am an avid reader and enjoy watching movies and enjoy going to Harley Davidson shops whenever I travel to get the newest swag.

I have worked as a coordinator for Sunrise cottages specializing in Alsheimer’s care and as a Community Manager for a section 8 and market rent that caterer to 55 and older population and I spent a year in employment for The Landing which is a day shelter for Rochester’s homeless population all of these employment opportunities have grown me into the individual that I am today which is a humbled but still a strong, caring and reliable person.

I feel that above all that service work and helping others is something that we all must strive for because at a blink of an eye that could be anyone of us needing assistance and I would want someone who is kind to help me during one of the worst times of my life, Kindness is key in my life and it cost nothing to give so I will continue to spread kindness as much I can as and as often as I can.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I feel that in any field especially when you work with vulnerable adults or any population of people that come to you for services that you need to be empathic and caring as well as dependable, in my field of choice my clients are dependent on you to help to ensure that they make the best choices while still having the choice to be as independent as possible.

You need to have a caring nature, and your clients need to be able to trust you and many of them have a sixth sense, and they can pick up if you are true so never try to break a promise to them because like us all they will always remember, and that tip has served me well throughout the years. Your word is everything!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing a team is not always an easy task, however if your fair and are willing to do any task that you expect from your team this will give you a lot of credibility, you need to always try to make each team member feel valued because a happy team is a productive team, always set the example that if you help me out I will help you out and lay out the expectations of what one needs to do to fulfill the job duties. I believe that you are as good as your trainer so give your best so that your employees have the best tools and resources to be successful because they are a reflection of you and the company you serve.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https: //www.facebook.com/sherry.irvin1
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherry.irvin1
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherry-irvin-404362108

  

  Image Credits
  The Rochester Women’s Magazine

  Lisa Ann Lingle @ Salt and Pepper photography

  Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce

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