Willows’ employee finds long-term care a
career fit
Thursday September 13, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
A position in retail just wasn’t giving Jackie Ciszewski what she was looking for in a career.

Wanting a more fulfilling job where she could make a difference, Ciszewski jumped ship and joined the staff at Willows Estate.

Since coming to the Aurora long-term care home 17 1/2 years ago, she has found working in long-term care to be much more rewarding, she says.

She also prefers the clientele at Willows Estate.

“I prefer working with older people; they have more patience,” says Ciszewski.

Ciszewski, a laundry aide and personal support worker (PSW), stresses that not everyone is cut out to work in long-term care.

If you’re someone who’s just looking for a way to make money so you can pay your rent and bills, then you probably won’t make the grade in a long-term care home, she says.

Working in long-term care, she says, requires a specific type of personality.

“You have to be empathetic, patient and tolerable,” she says. “You have to be a laid-back person.”

Initially, Ciszewski applied for a position as a laundry aide. However, after her interview management felt her personality would be better suited for a position working with residents on the floor.

Ciszewski also began taking courses, such as palliative-care training, to bolster her career at Willows Estate.

Ciszewski says she enjoys her career in long-term care because she can see the results from her work. She adds that it’s the residents which give her the greatest sense of fulfillment.

“When I come on the floor and they haven’t seen me because I’m (working in the laundry department), they’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s good to see you,’” she says.

At the moment, the majority of Ciszewski’s shifts are in the laundry department.

However, she says she misses the residents.

“That’s why I have to come and pick up nursing shifts whenever I can, because I miss them,” she says.

Teddy Mazzuca, life enrichment co-ordinator at Willows Estate, says Ciszewski is a big hit with residents.

“All of our residents really like Jackie,” she says. “She has got a really jolly personality and she jokes with them, and they really like that. She works really well with the residents.”