All you need is love, says Sarasota 'Caregiver of the Year'

Pam Matteen, 60, a certified nursing assistant who cares for clients in Sarasota and Englewood, recently triumphed over roughly 16,000 other caregivers to win Right at Home’s “2016 Southeast Region, Caregiver of the Year Award.”

For those not familiar with it, Right at Home, which has offices in Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch and serves Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties, is a private duty home health care company which has all level of services in the home for seniors and disabled adults who want to continue to live independently, said Lynn Clement, director of nursing for Right at Home and Matteen’s supervisor.

So how does one person rise above 16,000 others to be considered the best at what she does in an entire region?

Clement and Michael Juceam, owner of the local Right at Home, said last week that Matteen is an overflowing package of qualities of which most people just have one or two.

“Wow, there aren’t enough words to describe Pam,” Juceam said last week. “Pam is dedicated. She is incredibly humane. She has a sensitivity about her that enables her to immediately sense what a client’s needs are and she is able to deliver care that is really focused on making her clients feel special, cared for, safe and comfortable.”

“Pam is a true caregiver at heart,: says Clement. “When she works with her family, she is working with all of them, the client, the daughters, all the people involved in their well being. She doesn’t do it because it’s a paycheck. She does it because she loves her work. It’s just her human nature. When you meet Pam you will sense a joyfulness and a true sense of someone actually listening to you and caring about you.”

She seems a bit shy at first

Last Wednesday, while sitting in Right at Home’s Sarasota office, Matteen described her typical day at work and left one wondering how she could possibly not be overwhelmed by the amount of things she does.

“I’m so honored by this award, but it’s easy for me because I think of my clients as my family,” Matteen said. “I would walk over hot coals if they needed me to.”

Matteen has two permanent clients, a couple in Sarasota in their late 80s whom she calls Bob and Sue to protect their privacy and another client in Englewood.

Between them she works six days a week, six long days. If they need her, she will work for her clients on her day off.

Matteen cares for Bob and Sue on Saturdays, Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Here’s how she describes a typical Monday:

“Bob and Sue are in their late 80s. They need help with all the cooking, all the cleaning, all the household chores. I give them showers. I bathe them. I wash their hair. I make sure they are deodorized and clean. I get them dressed, make them breakfast and get all the towels used for the shower gathered. I get the beds made while they are having breakfast and then we read the newspaper together and discuss articles and meanwhile they are doing what they need to do to make themselves healthy. Then I fix their lunch. After lunch, we go for walks, play games, do puzzles and read articles out of Reader’s Digest. Then it’s time to start dinner. I get them fed, make sure the dishes are done, mop the floor, clean the kitchen, do the laundry, do the grocery shopping, pick up prescriptions and make sure medicines are given. I leave at 9 p.m. when my relief comes.”

Matteen says what motivates her to do all this every day is not a paycheck, because it would be impossible to do such a job just for money.

“Love is the answer,” Matteen said. “I hug. I kiss. I hold hands. I talk to them. I generally really love them and it makes it all so worthwhile and it just really makes you feel such a part of them and when you see them smile, when you see them laugh, when you get them to sing with you or recall memories, it is very profound.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 1:57 PM with the headline "All you need is love, says Sarasota 'Caregiver of the Year'."