Twin Lakes employee Janet Byrd, BSN, RN is the recipient of the 2023 Ronald L. McCarter Excellence in Teaching Award. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Janet has nearly 20 years of nursing experience. She is an educator in the Nurse Aid program at Alamance Community College, where she was nominated for the teaching award. Half of her nursing career has been spent at Twin Lakes Community, where she currently spends most of her time as an instructor in our Certified Nursing Assistant educational program.
At a time when many healthcare providers have struggled to maintain full rosters of caregivers, Twin Lakes decided to take a proactive approach and began offering a nursing assistant certification class. Janet played a key part in establishing our program and is an educator for us. The class is offered at no charge to Twin Lakes employees who are seeking a career in the nursing field. Students make a commitment to maintain Twin Lakes’ employment during and after their certification program. Certifying CNAs helps to meet staffing demands, reducing the shortage many other organizations experience. Seven students have graduated from the program, with a 100% passing rate on the certification exam, largely due to Janet’s instruction and oversight.
Janet’s supervisor describes her as an “outstanding teacher” who is willing to spend the necessary time making sure her students are learning and can perform their CNA skills correctly. Her supervisor adds “Our CNA program would not be the success it is today without her”. Janet portrays kindness and compassion as she works with our residents and their families. It is not only important that she treats them with such regard, but her teaching passion compels her to train her students the same way; she finds great joy in seeing them successfully care for our residents. Her dependability and encouragement to those around her make Janet an ideal nurse as well as an educator.
Twin Lakes is proud of her accomplishment and values the expertise, diligence, warmth and delight she brings to our community. Congratulations on your well-deserved award, Janet!
