Carmen has been with us for almost 4 years now. With high hopes, she won't make it till that point in our house. You know that saying where they say "God put you right where you needed to be," well that is not completely true in our case. I say God placed her in our home for us. She continuously goes above and beyond. She showed tough love and treated my son like her own. She also became the friend I didn't know I needed. She molded into our family like she always belonged.

Our son has come so far with her care and I can't wait for her journey with us to be over. I know some other child would love to have her too. This story won't detail everything, but I hope she gets this Award and knows how much we love and care for her. We joke that she's a glorified babysitter. Over payed and fun! Obviously that's not true. I don't know how much she gets paid but she's definitely fun. When she first came to us, my son was the sickest he had been since the day he was born. On oxygen, failure to thrive, and took all of his nutrition and meds via feeding tube. As a mom, I was battling PTSD and depression hard. I was in overdrive: caring for him and his big sister, working, and trying to maintain the house. We originally started services just so I didn't have to do it all on my own. But at the time my son qualified because of his feeding tube.

Between then and now things have changed so much, and it's because she helped me advocate for him. Of course when she first started she didn't even know half of what we had been through, but it didn't matter. We both knew we needed her. If anyone goes above and beyond for a child she didn't birth, it's her. Carmen consistently goes above and beyond for her clients. She is willing to advocate for her clients even in tough situations. She always has the client's best interest in the forefront of her mind. Carmen is well organized and assists her families with ordering medications, supplies, and other daily duties. She has exceptional assessment skills and is very knowledgeable of her client's baselines.

Carmen is proactive in their care from the first sign of a change in condition. Therefore, she has been able to prevent her clients from requiring further treatment or emergent care. She also takes the time to provide education to families to ensure they are able to care for the client confidently in the absence of nursing staff. Carmen understands that having a medically needy child can cause anxiety and fear for the families. Carmen went above and beyond and obtained a Minnesota Nursing license on her own in order to travel to appointments with client and client's mother. Carmen advocated for her client and was a source of comfort and resource for client's mother.

When a client discharged due to graduating from our services; Carmen verified that all caregivers of the client were set up for success. Carmen provided 1:1 training for her client's family to establish a system to order medications and supplies on time. Carmen reassured the client that he was going to be safe and grow and succeed in life. Carmen helped ease the anxiety of closing this chapter in their life so they could look forward to a new beginning.

Upon transferring to a new home full-time, Carmen switched from day shift to night shift knowing there was a great need in this home for night shift. Carmen enrolled in ASL classes through the Iowa School of the Deaf on her own time in order for her to better communicate with her client who is deaf.

Carmen has recently decided to go back to school while choosing to remain full-time with the agency to pursue her RN degree. Carmen would like to continue to develop her skills, and further her knowledge to be able to consistently provide the best care possible for her clients. Carmen always has a go getter attitude, she radiates positivity everywhere she goes, and has a contagious laugh. Carmen is always willing to assist with anything that is asked of her with a smile on her face. Carmen has assisted with training many nurses in homes and has even assisted with additional training of nurses who were struggling with charting.