Cindy Bernier

I am a compassionate and caring person with a lot of patience and understanding. I enjoy helping others, and spending time with especially Seniors. From a very young age, I enjoyed going to  the Long Term Care Facility,  close to where I lived and visit with the residents. I have always been able to connect with Seniors and persons with disabilities. I always enjoyed listening to the stories the Seniors would tell of their experiences growing up. 

I helped my elderly Mom, especially after she had to leave her own home and move to an Assisted Living facility. I would help her with personal care in the morning and evening. I took her to buy groceries and to appointments. I helped her with meal prep and with cleaning her apartment. I assisted with med administration, including insulin injections. After she was moved to a  Long Care facility, I would go visit her at least 3 times a week and bring her “treats” to help her feel cared for and not forgotten.

In about 2010, I applied to WeCare and was employed with them until about 2012. While working for WeCare, I would go into clients homes and help them with various things. I helped with medication administration, putting on and removing pressure stockings, meal prep and light housekeeping, personal care, such as bathing/showering, brushing teeth, washing hands and face in the morning and/or before bed, emptying colostomy bags, doing bed baths for clients that were bed ridden, helped clients in wheel chairs out of and/or into bed, helped them from their wheelchair to the toilet and then back into their wheel chair and/or into their daytime chair (recliner). I also spent time visiting with my clients and helped with grocery shopping, if required, as some clients had a difficult time getting out.

For the past year, I had been a Companion to a 92 year old Senior with dementia and only 1 leg (she had her right leg amputated below the knee). She was a resident of Capital Care Norwood and I visited her between 6 and 9 days a month, for 3 hours at a time. While visiting her I would help her with her personal care, such as brushing her teeth, washing her hands and face, brushing and styling her hair, painting her fingernails. I would help her with her breakfast, either in her bed or in the dining room, by peeling her egg, putting jam and/or peanut butter on her toast, removing the crust from her toast, putting the sweetener and milk on her porridge, adding milk and sweetener to her tea. I would take her outside for fresh air and change of environment, when able (depending on the weather). I would do crafts with her, read books and listen to music. I would take her to the common area to visit or sometimes just observe what the other residents were doing. I would push her wheelchair up and down the hallways and stop to look out the window, when not able to go outside. Sometimes, we would just stay in her room and I would apply lotion and massage her arms/hands and legs/foot and listen to stories of her life, that she remembered. I really enjoyed my time visiting with her and helping her. Shortly before her 93rd birthday, she fell out of her wheelchair and broke her hip. Once she came back to the Norwood, she never regained her strength and remained mostly in bed. At that time, I would feed her and give her fluids from a childs straw cup as that was easier for her to drink from her bed. Towards the end of her life, I fed her and gave her fluids off of a spoon as she was extremely weak. I increased my visits to 5 times a week until she passed away on October 02.

I was a Companion/Caregiver. I worked for the health care company, WeCare for approximately 2 years. Recently, I provided companionship for a personal client. 

I am a very compassionate, caring person who loves helping others. I am hard working and reliable.

I have my high school diploma. I do not have any formal training in the health care field, all of my training is life experience.I have taken First-aid and CPR but will require to update if employed.