Diane Rummel

I attribute my success to my background and how I was brought up, my family, my college education, and moving to Boston where I met people in both the business world and the healthcare world. I combine those experiences - I combine my boundaries, I combine the business with the healthcare, and it seems to work out fine. That combination of my upbringing, education, and professional experiences in both business and healthcare has really shaped how I approach my work.

The best career advice I've received is about being empathetic and being on time. It's about stating your opinions, but knowing when not to - you have to have boundaries. You need to know when not to state something that shouldn't be stated with the clients or residents. A lot of that communication goes to families, as well as the nurses and other professionals, so we're kind of in the middle. I just set my boundaries, is what I do. And I go by the book - if there's any problems or questions, I call the office, ask the nurse, or whoever's in charge at that time.

I would say, if you're in it for the money, don't be in it. If you're in it for empathy, and you like all types of personalities and you can deal with that, then go in with confidence. That confidence is something you're not trained to do - that's something you have within. It's not like you go in and sit at a desk and have your own place. You have to be stable personality-wise. Everything has to be kind of stable - stable, confident, caring, empathetic. You're helping anyone that needs it, people who cannot function as they used to. Some people aren't geared for this work, so you have to have those traits. If you don't, you shouldn't be in that type of business.

Now I'm not as involved with it as before since I'm semi-retired and do some per diem work. There's not too many challenges for me because I've done a lot of basic type clients, and I've also done some hospice, not much, not a lot of it. But they do prepare us with a care plan, so that we know what to proceed with when we go into a home or the assisted living.

Integrity and being honest are most important to me. I value dependence and independence - both being independent myself and allowing independence between me and the client. Boundaries are crucial - knowing when not to talk and when to talk, and keeping their lifestyle the same. I focus on the basics and maintaining those fundamental values in everything I do.