“Sometimes, It’s The Journey That Teaches You A Lot About Your Destination.” – Drake
My journey with Epoch Elder Care has taught me so much and helped me grow. I joined Epoch in 2016 as a Facility Nurse in Epoch’s Assisted Living facility in Gurgaon (named Vermeer). Little did I know at that time that my journey with Epoch would lead me to certain heights in my life. Like any other medical professional, I too was planning to work in a hospital and continue my way as a Nurse. Being at Epoch made me realize what I could do, how I could use all my skills for a different segment, and being able to make a difference in a elderly’s life- what in Epoch, we call as quality of life.
Being a facility nurse gave me the opportunity to spend most of my time with the elderlies, understanding their needs, managing the challenges and learning from the mistakes we made. In the beginning like everyone, I too had to go through the struggles, shortcomings and failures to get moulded into becoming the better version of myself. I learnt a lot from my managers, and I always keenly observed the decisions that they made, as it matters a lot in terms of an elder resident's life. Everyone at Epoch has a way of touching each other's life in a good way and everyone teaches the other an important lesson from their life’s experiences. I was the youngest amongst my team members when I had joined and also the one that had a lot of questions to ask. My managers and other team members took the effort and time to give practical answers to my queries. The people I was surrounded by helped me grow, personally and professionally.
In 2019, I was promoted as the Senior Facility Nurse, I was now looking after training sessions of new staff regarding resident engagement, was also responsible for managing the home in absence of the manager, and supporting the manager in day-to-day work. This was the time when we were executing the Vermeer expansion. It was a great learning experience planning the move-out from one location to the new one. This change in role helped me evolve, take up the new responsibilities and it eventually became a major stepping stone in my growth. Resident engagement and activities is a key area, where we focus on resident’s interests and help them participate and enjoy those activities. For that to happen it is always crucial to keep everyone on the same page, plan the celebrations as a team, brainstorm with them to come up with innovative ideas and make the activities more fun to do. It was during this period that we were hit by the first wave of Covid. It was a scary situation, but we survived it together only because of the critical decisions we took at that time. It was a trial and error period for everyone, each decision we took mattered a lot, I would question each and every decision just to ensure that no ends were loose. It was only then, I realized that I was somewhat good at critical thinking, and could bring the best out of me to deal with various situations.
Within a year another opportunity was given to me by Epoch- now becoming the Facility Manager at Epoch’s Monet Home in Pune- one of the few destinations for which all my colleagues and loved ones help me to reach. The change was not just in my role but the location as well, it was exciting to take up the new role and travel to a new place, two major changes at the same time. Now it is almost a year since I have taken up this role and I really enjoy fulfilling my duties as a Manager. All the experience and learnings from being a facility nurse and senior facility nurse helped me manage Monet home on my own. Being a manager is not just about managing a house under one roof but keeping the team together and helping each and everyone grow the way I have grown, because it's a continuous process of letting others grow under your watch. One of the things that I was able to do is motivate my new team to come forward with innovative ideas for celebrations, especially festivals. Now whenever a festival is near, all the Epoch homes are motivated to outdo the other, and that's the time where we see different talents from different homes, all coming together to fulfil the one goal- of putting a smile on a resident’s face.
My Epoch journey has indeed been a fruitful, learning and growing experience. I enjoy my work and have gained a lot from this journey- from being the youngest with lots of eager questions, to being the youngest manager on the executive team, I’m still eager to continue the learning process! Finally, I would say that “this journey has moulded me for the greater good.”- Asha Tyson.
