Nurse Stories

Mary Woosley

Director of Nursing Services
RN-BC

Mary Woosley knew she wanted to be a nurse from a very young age. Because one of her sisters was a nurse, she grew up listening to the stories about the profession and quickly fell in love with it from the get go. The minute she was old enough, she entered the healthcare profession as a CNA and felt an immediate connection to the work.

“It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do,” she says. “Never wanted anything else. My mind was pretty made up from the go.”

Mary has spent her entire nursing career with Golden Living and its predecessors – since 1982. The company actually put her through nursing school and helped her get her nursing degree.

“The career advancement and support this company provides is amazing,” she says. “It’s a never ending ladder of support.”

For the last ten years, she’s been a Director of Nursing Services at Golden LivingCenter – Camelot, where she provides a “smorgasbord” of services to staff and residents alike. Her duties include everything from overseeing the care of her residents to serving as the “right-hand man” to her facility’s ED to providing clinical care to ordering supplies, among other things.

While she realizes she wears many hats in this position, she also understands she’s not alone in her job.

“It takes a whole team to do this job, not just one nurse,” she says. “You need a lot of clinical knowhow to work here, because every day brings new challenges, and everyone has to work together and fill many roles, and we need to fit together like a puzzle or we fail. The key to success in nursing is your team.”

Her favorite part of her job, of course, is taking care of her facility’s residents. “You get very attached to them,” she admits.

In addition, she has been able to participate in some special clinical projects over the years. In the early 1990s, for example, she was asked to care for patients in a special care unit for younger-aged patients, many between 18 and 55, and many of whom were HIV positive.

“This was one of the only types of clinics catering to this population in Kentucky at the time,” she says, “and caring for that group of individuals was very special to me.”