One Step Closer!

I officially am one step closer to becoming a licensed nursing home administrator. Leave it up to me to pick the hardest state to get your license in. However, I now see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I just got back from a 3 week conference that was held up in Columbus, Ohio (it is required that you attend this conference before you sit for your licensing exam). Columbus is a bit too far to drive back and forth every day, so I stayed up there during the week and came back to Cincinnati on the weekends. Honestly, I had been dreading this conference and didn't want to go. However, I ended up really enjoying it & had a lot of fun...on top of learning so much that I wanted to cry.

I stayed in an Airbnb like Shelby & I did when we went to Toronto. My loft was so cute & it was located in Short North, a very popular place in Columbus. Overall, I was not a fan of Columbus. It thought it was dirty, the streets were so narrow and parking is terrible. It made me realize how much I truly love Cincinnati and how much it has started to feel like "home". I greatly looked forward to coming home on the weekends. Despite the freezing temperatures, I did try to get out and explore some of what Columbus had to offer. And by the way, Ohio State University did not impress me.

The conference is basically a crash course packed full of everything you need to know in order to be a nursing home administrator. Therefore, the 46 other people in my class are all future administrators like me. It was so neat seeing and talking with others who have the same passion for long-term care as me. On the flip side pretty much all of our speakers told us how this is the most difficult time to get into the industry because of all the new regulations & reimbursement cutbacks, as well as how we will all get sued at least once in our career. Sounds like a great career path right?! IT IS!

I think there is not a more exciting time to join the industry, especially with all of the baby boomers. This is when we are needed most! Yes there will be challenges and lots and lots and lots of laws that we have to follow, but at the end of the day I do this because I want to provide others with a quality life during their most vulnerable time. Our elders deserve it.

As you can see, after 8-9 hours of class, it was necessary to go out and have some fun. It was amazing the connection that formed between our group in such a short period of time. Not only did I made several new friends, but professional contacts--we will all be relying on each other in our future career. Yes, that is future nursing home administrators riding a mechanical bull...scary right?!

After the end of our 3 weeks, they even had a little graduation ceremony for us! Now I truly am one step closer to getting my license!....after I finish studying for the next month and a half.