Penner takes home 'Caregiver of the Year' award
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
Elva Penner knew something was going on when three co-orkers came into her Parkside Homes office and closed the door behind them.
She just didn't know what.
Instead, she wondered: "What'd I do now?"
In fact, what Penner had done was this: won the Caregiver of the Year award from the Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
The news came as a total shock.
"I was really surprised," Penner said.
So Penner went to the KAHSA workshop in Wichita that she hadn't planned on going to in the first place — only this time, she brought her three children along. And she took home a glass "trophy" too.
Penner started nursing school in 1970 after spending many years raising her children at home. She was first a nurse at Salem Hospital, then worked for Dr. George Ens.
In 1982 she made the move to Parkside Homes, where she worked as a charge nurse. Penner soon became health director, but when the state said the position had to be held by a registered nurse, Penner — a licensed practical nurse — shared the job with another R.N.
In 1993 Penner took a new position: resident care coordinator. That's where she serves today, doing a little bit of everything from coordinating doctors' visits to checking into residents' medications. Penner "makes sure it gets done," she said.
The variety of tasks Penner has at her job makes it hard to pin her down to one job title.
"Sometimes I don't know what to say I am," she said.
Penner always makes time to go out into the nursing home halls and visit with residents. It's her favorite part of the job — talking to people who live at Parkside.
"They're always interesting — so many stories to tell," she said.
Right now, Penner works three days a week, with 32 hours crammed into those three days. Although her kids would like her to stop working, Penner just isn't ready.
She'll continue to work as long as she enjoys it, she said.
Penner gives credit to her co-workers for making her job enjoyable.
"They're always so good to me," she said.
