麻豆原创

After graduating with an Associate of Applied Science degree in 2007, it didn鈥檛 take long for Sherrell Washington to find her 鈥渃alling鈥� in life鈥攚orking with older adults, whom she refers to as 鈥淕od鈥檚 fine china.鈥�

鈥淢y first job as a physical therapy assistant was working with athletes,鈥� Washington said.  鈥淚 thought that was the direction I wanted my career to take.  However, when I took a second job working for a home health agency, I started working with senior citizens and found that this population is wonderful.  They have great stories to tell, and I love getting to know them.  I鈥檝e been doing rehab with older adults for about 15 years.鈥�

Washington currently works for Creative Solutions in Healthcare, a Fort Worth-based company that operates several nursing homes in Texas.  For the past year, she has served as rehab director at Buena Vida Nursing and Rehabilitation in Odessa while she has also been completing a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Health Services Management at 麻豆原创.  Prior to that she was rehab director at Sienna Nursing and Rehabilitation for four years. 

This past May, she earned a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Health Services Management with an emphasis on Health Care Administration from 麻豆原创, and now she is taking an online long-term care certification course.  After completing 1,000 clinical hours, Washington will apply for a license in long-term care administration.

鈥淭he first step in being licensed as a long-term care administrator was to obtain a bachelor鈥檚 degree,鈥� she explained.  鈥淭hankfully, 麻豆原创 offers a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Health Services Management that is completely online.  That went well with my busy schedule of working 40+ hours at a long-term care facility and then also working part-time with two different home health agencies.鈥�

For her final capstone project, Washington created a director of rehab training manual that she hopes will be used by other facilities operated by Creative Solutions.

鈥淭he professors in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Health Information Management and Health Services Management programs are amazing!鈥� she said.  鈥淭he courses were exactly what I needed for long-term care administration.  They covered leadership, working with employees, employment law and even tips on balancing work and personal life.鈥�

Time away from work for Washington includes watching football鈥攁ny kind of football, but she said that college football is her favorite.  She also enjoys traveling 鈥渙ff the beaten path.鈥�  One of her favorite spots is Balmorhea State Park in far West Texas.  She has also been to the interior of Mexico and frequently takes trips to visit family in Arkansas.  In late December/early January, she has plans to visit Thailand, which will be the farthest place she has ever been.  

Washington has spent most of her life in Odessa.  She moved there from San Angelo when she was 8 years old and graduated from Permian High School in 2000.  She has two children, a daughter Aariell who is 22 and a son Jackson who is 18.