May 6 to 12 is Nurses Week to honor the varying roles of nurses and the positive impact they have on the individuals and communities we serve.
Nurses make such a difference as trusted professionals who ensure individuals, families, and populations receive quality patient care and services. They make up the largest group of health care professionals in the United States.
Partners currently has forty nurses in total employed in our Community Based Adult Services Face to Face (CBAS F2F) Program, Care Transitions Program, Home and Community Based Alternative Waiver Program (HCBA), our Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP), and Short-Term Services and Supports (STSS). Their roles include determining levels of care for program eligibility and care coordination – essential to these important safety net programs success. We coordinate essential services, and don’t provide hands-on nursing care.
In honor of National Nurses Week 2024, we are highlighting three nurses in Partners and their stories. Thank you to Partners’ Senior Managers for their recommendations.
| Janelle Honore Nurse Care Manager, HCBA | Janelle Honore is a Nurse Care Manager for Partners Home and Community Based Alternative (HCBA) Waiver Program. She has over 24 years of experience as a Registered Nurse, with broad experience working in Medical Surgical, the Emergency Room, and Ambulatory Care. Early in her career, Janelle recognized the importance of a holistic approach in healthcare by working with home health agencies and intermittent care facilities for adults with disabilities. In 2017, she accompanied a L.A. based medical missionary team to Ethiopia to provide nursing services at the newly constructed Negeli Arsi Hospital and its surrounding villages. Her career as an HCBA case manager launched two years later in 2019. Community-based nursing has proven to be a dynamically impactful setting to care for patients by addressing their physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Janelle shares, “Working with Partners has allowed me to meet individuals in their unique circumstances, aiding them in reaching their health-related goals through effective education and personalized care strategies”. |
| Liliana Pena Nurse Care Manager, MSSP Kern County | Liliana Pena is a Nurse Care Manager for Partners’ Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP) in Kern County. From a very young age, she was drawn to the health and medical field. She spent eight years as an ultrasound technician before deciding to pursue a career in nursing with encouragement from her aunt and cousin, who are nurses. During her externship with a hospital, she worked closely with the aging population and found her passion for caring for older adults. Liliana’s husband was closely connected to a former Partners’ supervisor, and after she graduated, they recommended her for a position within the Multipurpose Senior Services Program team. “At Partners, I get to interact with a group of people that often feel ignored or overlooked. I have found it to be rewarding to get to be part of a team that helps seniors stay in their homes and avoid nursing institutions.” Liliana has been with Partners for four years now and enjoys being able to help and provide services to better care for the aging population. |
| Marisol Amaral Registered Nurse, STSS | Marisol Amaral is a Registered Nurse for Partners’ Short-Term Services and Supports (STSS) Face to Face program. Healthcare has always been her passion. When she was a teenager, she dreamt of going to Medical School and becoming a doctor. She started out as a medical assistant and then spent four years working in Urgent Care, and it was there she saw firsthand the positive impact of nurses in patient care. She obtained her nursing degree and worked nine years bedside in critical care. During her time as a critical care nurse, she noticed the lack of knowledge patients had for community resources available to help them heal. She joined Partners in 2022 and resonated with the mission of “aligning social care and health care”. Her responsibilities in the STSS program include determining eligibility of individuals to enter Community Based Adult Services (CBAS) centers, so vital to their community living success. She knows the great impact of CBAS centers as her grandmother living with dementia was a member of a CBAS center for over seven years. At CBAS centers, they stress the importance of work to maintain personal independence, avoiding unnecessary and costly institutionalization. Marisol reflects, “I feel I am truly making a difference in our underserved community helping with opening access to these important service sites.” |
