A Midland College student traces her passion for health services back to working with nursing home patients in 2007.
According to a Midland College news release, Sherrell Washington began her career in the nursing home industry after graduating with an associate of applied science degree. She describes working with older adults, referring to them as "God’s fine china."
Washington earned a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Health Services Management with an emphasis on Health Care Administration from Midland College in May. She is currently completing an online long-term care certification course and plans to apply for a license in long-term care administration after finishing 1,000 clinical hours.
"My first job as a physical therapy assistant was working with athletes," Washington said. "I thought that was the direction I wanted my career to take. However, when I took a second job working for a home health agency, I started working with senior citizens and found that this population is wonderful. They have great stories to tell, and I love getting to know them. I've been doing rehab with older adults for about 15 years."
According to the news release, Washington is employed by Fort Worth-based Creative Solutions in Healthcare, which operates numerous nursing homes across the state. Over the past year, she has served as a rehab director at Buena Vida Nursing and Rehabilitation in Odessa while completing her degree at Midland College.
"The first step in being licensed as a long-term care administrator was to obtain a bachelor’s degree," she explained. "Thankfully, Midland College offers a bachelor’s degree in health services management that is completely online. That went well with my busy schedule of working 40+ hours at a long-term care facility and then also working part-time with two different home health agencies."