Nurses Make the Difference!

Nurse Appreciation Week–May 6-12

We are grateful to our hard working, talented, and dedicated nursing team that does so much for those we support. Our nurses oversee the medical care for each of our 360 individuals and manage the special needs of those with diabetes and other serious or chronic conditions.

“Our nurses build a relationship with the individuals in their care,” says Nurse Coordinator Diana McClay. “The more they get to know them, the more comfortable the individual is in receiving care. It makes things better all around.” Hammer & NER’s nursing team trains the homes’ staff and ensures everything is being done correctly medically. They also communicate with each individual’s healthcare team and handle communications regarding hospitalizations and discharges. They have gone the extra mile to contract with agencies to bring OT and PT to the individuals’ homes or for healthcare providers to come to them for things like lab draws if that is more comfortable for them. Our nurses also communicate with guardians when needed.

In addition, the nursing team works with Hammer & NER’s training department to create content for medical care training for our direct care staff. This is especially important as the people we support grow older and need advanced care. Having a well-trained staff will be essential to our ability to enable people supported to remain in their homes as long as possible.

Our nurses care about the people we serve,” says Diana. “This is the population of people they choose to work with. Our Director of Nursing, Tyler Dvorak, is a former DSP who left and came back. Catherine was a DSP and went to get her nursing license and chose to stay here. Cindy, Brittany, and I have always worked with the special needs population, it’s where we choose to be. We do our best to make the quality of life the best we can for the people we support.” Thank you to everyone on our nursing team. We appreciate you and everything you do.

Hammer & NER Nursing Team Tyler Dvorak, RN – Director of Nursing; Joseph Adeboye, RN; Brittany Furey, Nurse Coordinator; Cindy Garin, LPN; Mercy Ijiyode, RN; Diana McClay, Nurse Coordinator; Abby Melese, RN; Catherine Muchoki, RN; Jenna Neal, RN.