For Ella Fisher, a Certified Nurse Aid in Hospice, caregiving comes naturally, as does the need for end-of-life services. Ella grew up helping her mom, who worked full-time, care for her siblings with multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, as well as her dad, who suffered from heart failure. Her family grew very close to her father’s hospice nurse and after his passing, the family “adopted” this kind nurse, and she is still considered a member of the family.
Ella began working at the Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) in 2017 and truly values her job. Ask Ella about any patient and she will recall the time spent with each of them and their families, especially the those she’s had for a long time. It’s the families that make this job what it is for Ella. She says “My teacher at nursing aide school was a retired nurse. He told us the first day of class that “everyone you see is someone’s family’….and that’s what I do. I treat them like family.”
The bond is not only deep between Ella and her patients and their families, but it’s also a two-way street. She says that communication is the key those relationship. “I tell them about me—I’m a country girl, and I have a big heart. I tell them that you are going to cry, I’m going to cry with you,” says Ella. She strives to be accessible to her patients and caregivers. “I keep my phone on in case something happens to my people. I want to know what’s going on because I care,” she says. Often, Ella sends poems and words of wisdom to the families of her former patients to help keep their spirits up and to let them know she is thinking of them. Ella says that they are “part of my heart…part of my family.”
In her free time, Ella spends time with her family. She is also an expert cook and if often called upon to bring her famous peanut butter cake, Italian crème cake, pot roast or homemade mac and cheese to parties and events.