Caregiver makes her

mark as award recipient

St. John Lutheran Home employee honored as

Caregiver of the Year

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS -- Noting the little things that can make a big difference, Diane Marks, a nursing assistant at St. John Lutheran Home in Springfield, received the 2004 Caregiver of the Year Award recently at the Minnesota Health and Housing Alliance Institute and Exhibition at the Hyatt Regency.

Mary Pauluk, chaplain at the nursing home, said staff and residents at the home are thrilled about Marks' honor.

"We're very excited about this; it's a very big honor for our area," Pauluk said.

Marks' nomination for the award was supported by supervisors, peers and residents' family members.

Shari Koll, supervisor of the St. John Home's special unit for Alzheimer's and dementia care -- Riverhaven -- said Marks' patience, calm manner and special touches are a welcomed gift for those residents who are agitated, afraid, threatening or despairing.

Marks, who is known not only for her composure with residents but also for her assertive advocacy for their rights, played a pivotal role in the planning of Riverhaven in the two years before it opened in 1999.

Marks, who began working in long-term care at age 17, takes extra time to learn how residents like to be addressed, whether by first name, with a more formal Mr. or Mrs., or by a more familiar name like "grandma."

On one occasion, a dying resident was so agitated and confused that her son found it too painful to stay with her.

"Diane offered to be there on his behalf," Koll wrote in a nomination letter. "She came back after her shift to sit with this woman through the night. She listened to her crying out, held her hand, reassured her and calmed her for short periods of time."

Mary Krueger, a nurse at St. John Home, praised Marks' work ethic and resilience with challenges of the 19-bed Riverhaven unit.

"There you can witness Diane's patience, her humor and love for the elderly on a regular basis," Krueger said.

Marks inspired her three oldest daughters to work at the nursing home while they were in high school.

The wife of a nursing home resident nominated Marks, commending her for her care of her husband and reassurance that a spouse needs to maintain peace of mind.

"She has genuine concern about my well-being and projects an understanding of how difficult it must have been for me to take care of him for many years," the woman wrote. "She recognized the difficulty I have in seeing his slow deterioration each time I visit."

A co-worker, Rhonda Utz, commented on Marks' worthiness for the award.

"When you see Diane at work, you almost feel that each resident she takes care of is a relative whom she loves dearly and wants the best care for them," Utz said. "She always has a smile on her face and never takes a short cut when a resident needs or wants something."

Nearly 4,000 long-term care and senior housing professionals from Minnesota attended the MHHA Institute and Exhibition. Each year, MHHA honors a Caregiver of the Year from member nominations from across the state.

The association, whose members are non-profit nursing homes and senior housing providers, also honors a volunteer of the Year, Trustee of the Year nad top professionals in nursing home and senior housing administration.

The annual event focuses on educational programs that develop leadership in the field, advance change and build public trust through an emphasis on quality and responsiveness to consumer desires.