Deeper Calling on Display with Emerald Heights Resident Manager, April Parks
November 23, 2021
April Parks, Emerald Height’s Resident Manager, always knew she wanted to go into healthcare. Her desire to help people, make connections and serve a greater purpose in life all pulled her into this career path. It was a deeper calling and she knew she had to pursue nursing school.
Nursing school allowed April to complete a program that valued hands-on learning through various clinical settings. Once she began nursing school, she never strayed from it. It was her passion and she was great at it too! The only thing she needed to do now was figured out how to combine her two passions – working in healthcare and helping older adults.
From a young age, April felt a bond with older adults, so naturally, she was drawn to working with this population. After completing nursing school, April began her career in assisted living. After working in assisted living, April moved on to the Skilled Nursing and Rehab setting. She worked mainly with senior patients who had acute medical needs or long-term care needs.
For about eight years, April worked for a skilled nursing center and after years of experience, she was promoted to a Resident Care Manager. However, something was missing from her work culture. This is when April discovered Emerald Heights and knew she had to work there.
“I was so impressed by what Emerald Heights had to offer their community of residents and their employees; I actually left the management position with my previous employer for a floor nursing position at the Corwin Center at Emerald Heights. I took this lower-level position with an ambition to work my way up,” said April.
Nearly 17 years later, April is still working for Emerald Heights and achieved her goal of elevating in the organization’s ranks. April is now the Resident Manager at the Corwin Center Skilled Nursing Facility on the Emerald Heights campus.
Although every day looks different, during her time at Emerald Heights, April has ensured excellent care of each resident in the Corwin Center by providing leadership and oversight of the Nursing Assistants who provide direct care. She often completes managerial duties, but April still finds her way to the floor to provide care to residents in a clinical nursing capacity. She still loves the opportunity to engage with the residents from a floor nurse perspective and help meet the community’s needs through a variety of roles.
While working for Emerald Heights, April made a geographic move turning her 20-minute commute into an hour commute one-way. But the further distance did not make April want to find a job closer to her new home. She was satisfied with her job and was happy to extend the commute to stay with her Emerald Heights family.
“I could have easily found a job closer to where I lived and I’ve had different job opportunities pop up over the years, but my loyalty belongs to Emerald Heights,” added April. “It is where my heart belongs and I am proud to be a part of what makes this place special. Every employee who works here is valued and every voice is heard. We are more than just employees working on a senior living campus, and we are helping to keep it a true community in every sense.”
“Emerald Heights is unique in the fact that there have been so many friendships established and cultivated amongst employees. It just helps strengthen our community bond and there’s nothing that would pull me away from it.”
When April isn’t interacting and caring for residents at work, she spends time with her children, grandchildren, husband and friends. She travels all over Washington to rediscover the beauty the state has to offer.
