Amanda is one of our Club ANSRs here at Aging With Grace. ANSR stands for Aide to Nursing, State Registered, and is pronounced “answer”. Our Club ANSR’s might be known elsewhere as nurse aides, or CNAs (certified nurse assistants) or SRNAs (state registered nurse aides) but the duties are a little different here at Aging With Grace. Our Club ANSRs specialize in helping people with severe memory loss, and they lead the morning exercise session while another staff member helps the D.G. (dementia group). The Club ANSR also is responsible for helping a guest speaker or entertainer get set up for the morning session, or if a workshop is planned, to help lead the workshop while a volunteer or another staff member helps the D.G. During lunch and all afternoon, the D.G. is the Club ANSR’s sole responsibility, although we do appreciate when a volunteer helps! The D.G. has activities tailored to their abilities and needs, which are often separate from those who still have their social skills and ability to communicate.

Amanda excels at caring for the D.G. She is kind without sounding condescending and helpful without taking away the individual’s autonomy. She engages each D.G. member by meeting them where they are in their journey through the stages of dementia. She seems to have an uncanny ability to read their minds and anticipate their desires. Amanda’s voice is so soothing and her mannerisms so gentle that she puts everyone at ease…which is just what the D.G. needs.

Amanda is studying to be a registered nurse at Eastern Kentucky University, so her time with us is limited to what she can spare after her class times and clinicals. I would like her to be full time because she adds such grace and charm to the club, but I’ll have to be grateful for the times she can be here. Amanda would make an excellent Club Planner, I believe. I have asked her to help with the newsletter until we can find a full time Club Planner and have found her to be really good at it, even though she had no prior experience with the Publisher software. She has shown a talent for coming up with workshops and entertainment, too. I hope Amanda will be with us for a long, long, time.

I thank God for you, Amanda, for who you are, and for helping us age with grace here at the club!