Embassy Healthcare hosts ‘Super Olympics’ for caregiver staff

The Olympians came from near and far, eager to get their hands on some gold. They painted their faces, chanted their team names, and wore their uniforms with pride. But this was a different kind of Olympian — and the stakes of their competition were high. 

“We come from different backgrounds, but we’re here to save lives,” said Nicole Rodriguez, a caregiver at Tessera of Brandon in Florida. 

Embassy Healthcare hosted the Super Olympics at The Grand Resort in Warren Wednesday, inviting 12 teams from Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Each team was made up of Embassy caregivers, such as nursing assistants, who won a regional contest to qualify for the main competition. 

The teams went head-to-head in 10 events as they fought for the $1,500 grand prize. Some events measured their skills, asking the competitors to put on PPE or make hospital beds. Others tested their knowledge of how to interact with their patients and their families. 

The caregivers’ favorite events seemed to be the ones putting them in the shoes of the people they treat — like the “Dementia Experience,” which asked each team to race through a series of everyday tasks while wearing gloves, headphones and distorted glasses that simulated the frustrating limitations that their dementia patients face. 

“It lets you know the struggle that they have,” said Carmelia McQueen, a memory care coordinator and state tested nurse aide at Grande Oaks/Grande Pavilion in Oakwood, Ohio. 

Embassy Healthcare put on the event to give back to their nursing assistants and caregivers, according to Kristy Brownell, the company’s vice president of human resources (and self-described “chief happiness officer”). Brownell said she was inspired to plan the event when she watched last year’s summer Olympics.

“Nursing assistants are the heart of our business in long term care, and they don’t get the recognition that they deserve,” Brownell said. “We put this together to give them special recognition, special treatment, and at the same time they get to learn their craft.”

According to Rodriguez, the participants felt that recognition and appreciation. 

“I was just talking to one of the girls and I said, 'How do you feel?’ and she said she feels seen, and she feels grateful that we are being seen and we are being acknowledged,” Rodriguez said.

Ultimately, Embassy of Lebanon took home the gold, with Grande Oaks/Grande Pavilion coming in second place and Clepper Manor in third.