Nelson begins as Good Samaritan’s activity director

Once the Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Nickie Nelson transitioned into the Activity Director role at Good Samaritan Society-Fontanelle earlier this month.

Nelson has been with Good Samaritan for a combined 11 years and has high expectations in her new position.

“The activities department has always been great,” Nelson said. “I want to bring it to the next level.”

To Nelson, reaching the next generation will mean tapping into a younger generation of residents that care facilities like Good Samaritan are beginning to see, and finding out what they like to do.

“We have 90-year-olds to some 70-year-olds. I want to be able to get those 70-year-olds out to as many activities as I can,” Nelson said. “I want to make it even better than it has been before.”

Getting each resident to as many activities as possible will mean finding out what they like to do, Nelson said.

Each day during the week, Good Samaritan has devotions for residents. In the afternoon, activities are a little more specialized or specific to a theme, depending on the day.

“I have always loved to work here. I actually left and came back, so I’ve seen the other side of the world,” Nelson explained. “I love working here because it’s family oriented. Everybody’s a big family here. The residents are your grandparents, the older CNAs and co-workers are like your mother or your father, to me. You’ve got your siblings who are staff with you who are similar age, and I feel we’re a big family here.”