Kingsway inspires nursing career
Megan Schmidt began working at Kingsway Retirement Living when she was 17 years old. Five years and one degree later, she’s not leaving.
While in high school, Megan started working as a home health aide at Kingsway.
In that position, she assisted residents with daily living activities including bathing, dressing, grooming, medication administration and general care giving tasks. Megan began college attending Minnesota State University, Mankato. She intended to be a pre-med student but soon switched her degree to nursing.
“Working at Kingsway showed me that I enjoy direct patient care. I was able to build relationships and get to know residents,” she said.
Her class schedule was flexible allowing Megan to remain an employee at Kingsway through college.
“I would work at least one weekend a month,” she said, “When my nursing program became more demanding, I had cut back to working only on breaks and during the summers.”
Megan graduated college in December 2017 and currently has a full time job in the oncology medical surgery unit at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville. But that doesn’t mean she’s leaving Kingsway. She recently made the transition from home health aide to registered nurse in a casual on call position.
“She is familiar with our policies and procedures which made for a very smooth transition to a higher level of responsibilities,” said Melisa Mewes, Kingsway Director of Nursing, “Since Megan has worked with our team for five years, she also knows our residents very well.”
Kingsway not only provided inspiration for Megan to select nursing for her career, but has taught her to show compassion while providing care.
“Kingsway has made a huge impact on my life, both personal and professional,” she said, “The care of the soul motto is something that I’ve taken with me into my education and clinical rotations. I’ll continue to use it as I take care of patients.”