OMNI believes in staff members: Imamovic
Tuesday September 18, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Maureen Imamovic has spent her entire nursing career at Springdale Country Manor and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Upon graduating from the nursing program at Georgian College, Imamovic took a job at the Peterborough long-term care home in May 1992.

Having served as the home’s administrator and director of care (DOC) since January 2006, Imamovic has also worked as a nurses’ aide and a registered nurse (RN) during her tenure.

Even before entering nursing school, Imamovic knew she wanted to work in long-term care.

“I love geriatrics; I always have,” she says. “I give a lot of that credit to one of the greatest role models of my life — my grandmother.”

Imamovic describes her switch from RN to administrator/DOC as a “huge move” full of challenges. Her biggest challenge, she says, was trying to make the same personal impact on residents that she did when she worked on the floor.

“That’s the reward of long-term care: You can make a difference every day,” she says.

Imamovic adds: “You can also make a difference in the staff’s lives. You can promote good teamwork.”

Imamovic dispels the myth, common amongst nursing students, that nursing in long-term care homes offers limited skill development.

“What I’d like people to understand is the amount of growth I’ve gone through professionally here,” she says. “That’s what makes OMNI a choice employer over others. OMNI believes in its people.”

To illustrate this point, Imamovic points out that six of the home’s seven managers have been promoted from within.

Another aspect of long-term care that many people don’t understand, says Imamovic, is the amount that staff members give emotionally.

For Imamovic, what cements the importance of her job is when she’s faced with a resident in palliative care. Not only is she there to comfort the resident, but also to provide support to their family, as well as to staff members.

“It’s being privileged to be at the end of so many people’s lives and all that entails,” she says. “It’s a natural part of life, and it’s a real privilege to be there for someone’s last days.”