During National CNA Week (June 15-21), we spoke with Magali (Maggie) Guerrero, who has been at Morningside for nine years. Maggie grew up in a small town outside of Fredericksburg, TX, called Mason. Since she has lived in Texas all of her life, she is used to the June heat!
Maggie has also always worked for senior living communities, starting at 18 as a housekeeper for a small mom-and-pop senior living facility in her hometown. As she was more of a people person, she moved to working in the kitchen, where she had more interaction with the residents and healthcare staff. When her father was diagnosed with lung cancer during this time, however, she felt she could have given him a better quality of care had she had training as a CNA before he passed. She also felt she could do more for the residents at her facility in that role, so she sought training and became certified as a CNA.
From Mason, she eventually moved to Beeville to join her husband Tony who had found work at a correctional institution. She also found work at another senior living facility there, but she felt the culture was not as nurturing as she expected. She began to experience burnout, reconsidering her choice to become a CNA. When her family eventually moved to Boerne, she worked for another senior living facility for a few months before she discovered Morningside at Menger Springs.
She thought it might be interesting to work for Morningside, so she submitted her job application. A few months later, Maggie received a call from Morningside, and she accepted a position as a PRN temporarily to see if it would work out for her at Menger Springs. She ended up loving her time at Menger Springs and chose to continue on as a CNA working with residents. Maggie also participates in Academy of Career Excellence (ACE) leadership training at Morningside and recently received her Level 1 graduation certificate.
Maggie says that she is inspired by the way every employee at Morningside is passionate about what they do for the residents. She says, “We come together as a team to achieve a high quality of care for our residents.” She believes Morningside invests in its employees to be the best for the residents. Working night shift, she also says, “you might think it would be quiet, but oftentimes it’s not!” She can get several call lights from residents in one evening, with all different requests. She says she loves all her residents on her MC3 unit, and often makes peanut butter sandwiches when they get a hankering for an after-midnight snack.
When not working at Morningside, Maggie spends time with her family, including husband Tony, her teenage son Aidan, and her six-year-old daughter Ava. They are a very active family and like to hike the nearby Hill Country trails together. They also have two dogs – Bella, a girl, and Rex, a Boy – both mixed labs. Maggie also loves to read good stories, and is currently reading Prepared by Mike Clover.
