For certified nursing assistant Paula Hawthorne, one of the perks of the job is “to have the words ‘caring’ and ‘fun’ associated with your name.”

The Monroeville resident has been employed at Redstone Highlands in Murrysville for six years. The CNA’s task, as she sees it, is “helping out with any needs that may come up with the residents and with making life enjoyable, fun and pleasurable. It’s important to the residents that I, as an employee, enjoy my job. They can tell!”

As with many caregivers, Hawthorne has personal experience to back up her professional resume.

“My mother was diagnosed with dementia, then Alzheimer’s,” she says. “I watched her as the disease progressed for 14 years. I learned about the profession and how the disease affects everyone who’s involved.

“With Alzheimer’s disease, you see several different steps a person goes through to get to the very end,” she says. “My mother went through every single one of them. I saw the progression of the disease, how it takes over a person and how you have to make adjustments in your own family life.”

Helping her mother inspired Hawthorne to become a personal caregiver and then to complete the CNA class offered at Redstone. One of her main concerns is the residents’ quality of life.

“It’s a wonderful feeling being able to come to work and have the trust of so many residents that count on you every day,” she explains. “Not just for the care you provide, but for making their day worthwhile. We try to keep our people at the level where they are for the longest period of time possible.

“Laughing and having fun is an important part of my day,” she says. “It’s even more important to me when I see residents laugh and joke around. It means they feel comfortable. And we never know what the next fun adventure will be.”

That spirit of adventure led Hawthorne to organize a summer trip to Kennywood for a group of Redstone residents, each accompanied by an aide. She says the outing brought back old memories and created new ones.

“Sharing Potato Patch fries, waffle cones and the train ride was all part of our adventurous day. Getting wet on the Pittsburgh Plunge was the highlight. The trip made us bond in a unique way.”

Away from work, Hawthorne isn’t one to sit on the couch with her knitting. Her son Zachery and daughter Katrina have long been involved in Scouting programs. Hawthorne is a Girl Scout troop leader and facilitator. Her goal is to assist her troop in earning the Gold Award, the program’s highest achievement.

She and her husband Michael, along with a group of friends, enjoy motorcycles and car racing. In fact, Hawthorne often arrives at work on a motorized scooter, on which she also takes day trips “for the sights and smells you don’t experience in a box.”

These tales also are shared with her charges at Redstone: “I’ve had residents say they live their lives through me and my outside activities.”