Grace Visiting Nurses

Helen Riggs, Administrative Assistant, Aide Scheduler, Medical Supply Supervisor

I began working for Grace as a part-time aide while working at Rusk State Hospital. I became a full time employee for Grace on March 2, 1992.

When I started at Grace, I started out as a home health aide. I had several bed patients and they were seen 2 times a day, AM and PM. My schedule usually consisted of 10 visits a day. I started in the clerical position/administrative assistant in 1995 due to a back injury I received while working as an aide. I was assigned clerical duties and as an assistant to the director of nurses. One of my duties was doing the aide schedule, and this was all done by hand, as there were no computers in the office at the time. We had 10 aides and each one had 8-10 patients each. The schedule was done on a large calendar with a pencil. One column had the patient’s name, next column was the aide’s name that was assigned to that patient, and the next column had the days the patient was seen. After all the visits were circled with a pencil, the calendar was put in a folder and each aide was given a handwritten schedule each week.

My administrative duties consisted of keeping up with hospital admits, discharges, and new admits. I filled out a report each month, which I put on Mr. Keith’s desk. I helped with filing forms, putting together notebooks for policy and procedures, and whatever else the director of nurses needed help with. Then I was assigned another duty – to order wound supplies for the nurses in all 3 offices. This can get to be a hassle, especially when they need a certain dressing and nobody has it in stock! Thank God for Carolyn Halbert – she searched every company that stocked wound care supplies until she found what we needed. My clerical job became a lot easier when Mona came aboard and introduced us to computers. I didn’t think I would ever catch on to using a computer. Kaytee still has her doubts about me, but it’s a lot better than using that pencil! I love my job and all the people here at Grace, and I plan to retire here.