Senior living exists for residents to live their best lives and thrive as they age. But it doesn’t exist without dedicated employees who do everything from providing care to cooking and cleaning and more. It’s staff, with compassion and commitment, who can make a good senior living experience an excellent one.
Careers in Aging Month
Those who care for older adults are incredibly important. That’s why March is Careers in Aging Month, celebrating them and the work they do. So what’s considered a “career in aging”? It can be any job where the main focus is on supporting older adults. The opportunities can be almost endless!
Most careers in aging are related to healthcare, including
- doctors who specialize in caring for older adults
- physical, occupational, and speech therapists
- social workers
- homecare providers
- hospice providers
- and more
However, there are also many careers in aging outside the realm of healthcare. These can include things such as research, education, and senior centers. Of course, it also includes senior living.
Importance of Careers in Aging
There are lots of reasons that careers in aging are important, many people choose it as a career field because they want to give back, make a difference, or help people. This is especially true for senior living.
Within senior living, residents are the reason that careers in aging are so important. The residents are the reason for the job. Whether it’s helping them shower, cooking a meal, cleaning their room, changing lightbulbs, driving them to an appointment, planning an activity, or something else. Every day the work they do is to benefit residents.
Types of Jobs in Senior Living
We’ve already mentioned how broad careers in aging is, and how many different settings it can include, such as healthcare, senior centers, or senior living. Within each setting, there are also a wide range of roles that all fall under the umbrella of careers in aging. Senior living is no exception. There are many different positions and departments that each play a unique role in supporting residents.
Nursing
In many ways, nursing is the backbone of senior living. It doesn’t exist with just nursing, but nursing or clinical teams are the ones providing direct care to residents. Most senior living nursing can be broken down into two types of positions that have very similar, yet different, roles.
Resident Assistants (RAs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs, formerly known as STNAs)
RAs and CNAs are similar, but RAs receive their training on the job while CNAs go through formal training and must pass a state licensure test. Both roles support residents by performing personal care or grooming tasks, such as showering or getting dressed. Unlike RAs, CNAs may also check and record residents’ vital signs. Both RAs and CNAs always work under the supervision of a nurse.
Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs)
RNs and LPNs are both types of nurses with different education and training requirements and abilities. Becoming an RN requires an associate or bachelor’s degree, while becoming an LPN requires less education through a nursing training certificate. However, like with CNAs, both require passing a state licensure exam and completing continuing education. When it comes to what they are able to do within senior living, the biggest difference is that RNs can use equipment like catheters and oxygen and can also supervise LPNs. In addition to supervising RAs and CNAs, RNs and LPNs also administer medications and monitor and document resident wellbeing.
Housekeeping
In senior living, the housekeeping team keeps the campuses beautiful and clean. Their focus is on the entire campus – from community spaces to resident apartments and rooms. Sometimes, housekeeping teams even move furniture. Because of the types of cleaning products used, team members may also have to complete additional safety trainings to ensure they are using and storing chemicals properly. Depending on the senior living community and level of care, housekeeping can also include laundry.
Life Enrichment, Music Therapy, and Transportation
This is a hallmark of senior living. It can make or break a resident’s experience. Building relationships with residents is important for every department, but is especially important for life enrichment, music therapy, and transportation. These teams keep life fun, encourage residents to be social, improve mental and emotional wellbeing, support cognitive functioning and memory, and help make daily life a little easier and more enjoyable.
Dietary
Some say the way to the heart is through the stomach, and that’s part of what makes dietary teams special. Dietary teams handle everything related to food at senior living communities. Some of the positions include Dietician, Executive Chef, Cook, Server, Waitstaff, Dietary Aide, and Dishwasher. They may be making sure meals are nutritionally balanced, preparing and cooking food, taking orders and serving residents, or keeping the kitchens and dining rooms clean and safe. Many senior living communities offer restaurant-style dining that may feature gourmet menus for residents – and their loved ones – to choose from.
Corporate
It takes a lot of work behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly at a senior living community. Corporate and administrative teams often include human resources, operations, finance, marketing, sales, clinical, IT, purchasing, administrative support, and more. At The Ohio Masonic Communities, it also includes The Ohio Masonic Communities Foundation and The Ohio Masonic Communities Resource Center.
Grounds and Maintenance
From the second you pull into a senior living community’s campus or step through the front door, you’ll see signs of the grounds and maintenance teams. The grounds teams take care of things like mowing the grass, shoveling snow, salting the sidewalks, and general landscaping. Maintenance teams work inside the building to make sure everything works like it should, from lights and outlets to elevators and bathrooms. At some senior living communities, maintenance teams also help residents with things like mounting TVs or hanging pictures.
Social Work and Therapy (Occupational, Speech, and Physical)
Social workers and therapists are crucial to senior living, especially for skilled nursing and short-term rehabilitation. Social workers may coordinate admissions, provide counseling or therapy, help get medical equipment, make referrals to community organizations, and more. Therapy generally includes physical, occupational, and speech therapies. These therapists work with residents to improve things like walking, balance, talking, swallowing, and performing their activities of daily living like getting dressed or doing laundry. Occupational, speech, and physical therapies can be especially important aspects of rehabilitation after events such as a stroke or a hip replacement.
Benefits of Working in Senior Living
Careers in senior living encompass a lot, but also come with many benefits. These are some of the benefits that can be found with many senior living careers and at The Ohio Masonic Communities.
- When you work for a not-for-profit organization, like The Ohio Masonic Communities, you could be eligible for student loan forgiveness under Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
- You can continue your education with up to $5,000 in tuition assistance from The Ohio Masonic Communities each year. Our process is simple, and we pay the school up front, before you take the classes! Plus, Hondros College of Nursing offers a discount!
- Residents become like family. You get to know them, form relationships, make a difference in their lives, and know you do meaningful work.
- Traditional benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; Paid-Time-Off (PTO) of up to 136 hours in the first year; Extended Illness Reserve (EIR); paid holidays (including a floating holiday), HOPE emergency financial assistance; and more!
How to Start Your Career in Aging
Getting started with a career in aging at The Ohio Masonic Communities is simple. On our careers site, you can browse our job openings by location so you can see opportunities close to you. When you find one that interests you, go through our application process – it’s easy! We also regularly host hiring events at our campuses where you can show up, interview, and possibly get hired on the spot! Information about hiring events is typically posted on that location’s Facebook page and on LinkedIn.
Why our Team Loves their Careers in Aging
Don’t just take our word for how amazing careers in aging are. See what our team members are saying about why they love their careers in aging!
“The residents. I am a people person. I love talking and interacting with people. That has been a part of every job I have ever had. Now I enjoy driving our residents to their appointments. I love it.” Tim, Transportation
“The best part of each day of this job is the residents. I enjoy talking with them and learning about their memories of history that they experienced. I enjoy this job personally because I love the outdoors. I take pride in my work and do everything possible to make our campus safe and beautiful.” Rich, Grounds
“I feel that The Ohio Masonic Communities is a unique organization that really has people’s best interests at heart. We strive daily to enhance our residents’ lives. Every day is different and has it challenges, but it’s the only place I want to be.” Brooke, Chief Financial Officer
“The best benefit of all is our residents. They make my day. If they are feeling down, a simple hug will brighten their day and mine too.” Danya, Housekeeping
“I enjoy our residents and the ability to talk with them every day. They are the highlight of my day. They make me smile and glad that I’m here.” Jenifer, Laundry
“I enjoy the positive energy here. I want to do my very best every day. I want to make sure our residents enjoy their meals and that they always look appealing. Your meals need to look good on the plate as well as tasting good and being nutritious.” Alyssa, Dietary
“My favorite part of this job is the residents. I enjoy talking to them and hearing their stories of how they were raised, their careers, and their families. I want to ensure that every resident is well cared for and happy.” Donna, Resident Assistant
“I love working with our residents and getting to know them on a personal level. I tell them some of my jokes, and they even laugh at them.” Cindy, Life Enrichment
Are you ready to spring into your career in aging with The Ohio Masonic Communities? We’d love to hear from you! Give us a call at 1 (877) 881-1623 or contact us here. You can also browse our current job openings here. We have three senior living communities across the state of Ohio – Browning Masonic Community in Waterville, Ohio, Springfield Masonic Community in Springfield, Ohio, and Western Reserve Masonic Community in Medina, Ohio.