Sue Fierro, Lansing, MI, has been in home care for over 20 years. She entered the field because it seemed like a good fit with her desire to help people and it didn’t require a college degree. Her first experiences were frightening because she was sent to homes without sufficient training to care for clients with high-level needs. She eventually went back to school, earned her medical assistant certification, found work in a medical office to have a steady income and higher wages. After 10 years and many requests from patients who were looking for trained caregivers, Sue decided to leave office work and get back out into the community to support others
Sue has become a strong advocate for DCW training as she went through a comprehensive DCW training program in 2009 with the B.T.B.Q. [Building Training…Building Quality] program. In her words, “That is the training I needed 15 years before. It took me through so many different aspects of being a home care provider and taught me the skills and awareness I needed and wanted to help keep the clients and myself safe while working together. I really wish I had had that training before I began this work as I believe I would have felt more informed, confident and I would have stayed working in this field on a full-time basis.”