When Care Professional of the Month Dale Smith took time to reflect on her journey to Home Instead®, she poignantly discussed her late aunt, who had served as a CNA for more than 30 years and was Dale’s closest friend.
“My aunt was a visiting nurse, and she got me into caregiving. She was so compassionate with others and had taken care of hundreds of people over the years. She was among my mother’s younger sisters, and we were close in age. I am so grateful to her. She taught me what to do. It turned out that this line of work felt natural to me,” said Dale, who had previously worked at different non-caregiving jobs, including ones in the corporate business world, until 2012.
That is when she entered professional caregiving as a private-duty live-in caregiver for 4½ years. Dale then worked for a home-care agency as a contractor before she joined Home Instead of Boulder, Broomfield and northwest Adams Counties in December 2019. Dale’s momentous move to caregiving wouldn’t have been possible without her late aunt’s influence.
“My aunt privately shared a few stories. She once had a 105-year-old client who was being mistreated, and my aunt had to report it. It broke my heart when I heard about it. It was like a call to action. I ended up providing care for her. She was my first private-duty client. I took care of her for 18 months as a live-in caregiver,” Dale said.
“Sadly, my aunt passed away in 2016 as the result of a series of medical mistakes that could have been averted. It made me angry and questioning of her treatment. When she went into hospice and was near the end, that was the only time I have prayed to God ‘to take someone home.’ My aunt was suffering horribly. We were always close. We had talked daily on the phone or in person until she could no longer do it.”
Dale’s award-winning work as a senior-care professional will stand as a testament to her aunt. “I love this job. It fits me like a glove. I wish I had gotten into this work earlier. I am able to give back to society,” Dale said. “Home Instead is awesome, just the best company. Communication is great. When I have a question, a staff member’s answer is immediate. I couldn’t have found a better boss. By contrast, when you work for a corporation, it is so impersonal.”
There is a caveat about working in professional senior care, Dale pointed out. “You can’t do this job without possessing a big heart for people,” she said. “Despite the clients’ challenges, we’re not giving up on any of them if it does not involve a medical issue. At Home Instead, we go above and beyond. I believe that compassion, empathy and the human touch are major considerations in senior care. My longtime client needs the human touch, a caress on the cheek or hug. She’ll grab my hand and kiss it. That’s not the case with my other client, but personalities do differ. You get to know them and adjust to the kind of care that makes them comfortable.”
Recruitment and Engagement Coordinator Brenda Munro said: “Dale is one who flies under the radar. She works four 12-hour shifts a week and never misses work or arrives late. Brenda noted Dale’s observation that, “If you had come out of a corporate-world career to do this work, you would appreciate the simplicity of helping people for a living.” Brenda said: “Dale has told me more than once that ‘I just love what I do.’ ”
Brenda added: “She is amazing with our dementia clients. During one of her shifts, Dale and her client were watching ‘World’s Dumbest Criminals’ on television, and the client was cracking up. Dale called her client ‘my little darling.’ Her client is the sweetest, tiniest 89-year-old lady, and Dale just adores her.”
Dale began assisting the client and her late husband in January 2020, and many memories have been generated from the caregiving relationship, including one that involved a wildfire. In December 2021, Dale rushed to her clients’ temporary living quarters five hours before she was scheduled to work. Dale arrived after the clients had been evacuated from their home because of the danger of a wildfire that blazed in heavily populated suburbs between Denver and Boulder. The wildfire caused $2 billion in damage, making it the most destructive in Colorado history.
Sadly, the husband died just two months ago at age 88. “It was devastating. The husband was friendly and a real gentleman, and he had been in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. His situation shocked me in terms of how quickly his health declined after a hip surgery. He was trying to take care of his wife, who is a very loving woman. Her challenge was mobility, and she received 24/7 care from Home Instead in her memory-care unit until just recently,” said Dale, who wants to remain with the client as long as possible despite the cut in service hours. “She deserves to have a familiar face with her.”
In general, Dale feels good about her job at age 70. “I am 100 percent certain about continuing as a Care Pro until I can’t do it. This job touches my heart. It is a privilege to be in senior care. One thing I love about my job is that I can think outside the box and come up with good care solutions when unexpected challenges arise,” she said. Brenda said she and the rest of the staff wished the Home Instead franchise “could clone Dale.”
All Home Instead Care Professionals are screened, trained and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (720) 890-0184 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead services, visit our website.
