Caring While Black: Tova Yellock’s Top Tips to Care for LOVED ONES AFTER SUFFERING A STROKE

You do not have to give up your passion even if you can not be the one to personally deliver it. More and more people of color are taking advantage of information and mixing it with their passions to start a business.
As we explore National Stroke Month we are also taking a look at how the environment in nursing has changed. Vaccine mandates and working in the healthcare industry with an auto-immune disease has made being a healthcare professional difficult. Are there nurses who want to contribute to the business of health? Have nurses turned to entrepreneurship to keep their professions?

GW Today conducted an educational research based on “Lack of Diversity in the Health Care Workforce“. The research states, “…five of the 10 health professions studied, the representation of new Black graduates in the pipeline was less than in practice, indicating the future workforce may be even less diverse.” This could mean we may lose some diversity when it comes to medical facilities due to lack of talent.

We asked Tova Yellock, CEO & Co-founder of the nurse staffing agency, Elite Nurses Staffing Agency LLC about the state of healthcare from the perspective of a seasoned healthcare provider to help us understand how nursing staffing agencies are becoming key players in the healthcare industry.

Who is Tova Yellock & Elite Nurses Staffing Agency LLC?

Based in Martinsville, Virginia Elite Nurses Staffing Agency LLC helps staff understaffed facilities since 2020. The CEO & Co-Founder is also a nurse that is dedicated to sending only the elite of nurses to hospitals, nursing homes, doctor offices, and other healthcare facilities to meet their staffing needs. Her experience as a nurse allows Yellock to identify highly trained nurses. Yellock’s unique position as a nurse has given her the advantage to lead a staff of traveling nurses.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Transitioning from a Nurse to a Business Owner

Tova’s compassion and understanding goes beyond mindfulness. The owner opened up about her own battle with the Lupus remembering when it was time to get off the floor as a nurse stating, “About a year ago I started getting sicker. I start experiencing more complications with my health. I was a travel nurse mainly at that time. I was traveling to North Carolina and I just started swelling, so many body pains and having complications with my heart. I knew that eventually it was getting down to the point where I’m not going to be able to physically go work as a nurse anymore, but now I created another way to help people on a bigger scale.”

She noticed that the treatment of the employees of the nurses of the CNAs of LPNs varies at each facility. When Tova started traveling with nursing she observed a great difference and how the healthcare workers were treated first hand. After witnessing the stark difference she knew she wanted to be the one with the business instead of working as an employee to appreciate the line of work. “I used to travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Roanoke Rapids pretty much over North Carolina and Southern Virginia” recalling her route before stepping back from the field.

Nurses that get hired by staffing agencies like Elite Nurses Staffing Agency may notice a difference in healthcare provider programs. “Everywhere is different,  even within the same state it’s different. Every facility has established the same set of rules and policies for health care, but as a nurse going into different facilities you see what’s going on within the first two to three hours of being there,” says Tova. Running this type of business is not as simple as applying with a medical facility. According to the business owner the first place to start is understanding the needs of the facility. Staffing agencies such as Elite Nurses assist in filling in staffing gaps to benefit the medical operations for a certain period of time.

Tova Yellock Educates Alpha Magazines

National Stroke Awareness Month

What do you notice about the current environment for nursing professionals that you hope to change with your company?

“Well the whole thing about me having an agency is that I do know that you can have a big impact on the operation of a medical facility. That’s why I named my agency Elite Nurses Staffing Agency. The goal is to give elite healthcare to people. Since I’ve been sick and I can’t take this passion I have and physically go out there to nurse, I would like to be able to provide that to other facilities hiring employees.  It’s our employees duties to go out there and treat their (medical facility’s) patients as if they’re their own.”

We can’t afford to lose health care workers as people of color. Why might nurse staffing agencies be the solution

“100%!!! There are tons of travel nurse agencies around the world. However, in my area I am part of the few African Americans that own staffing agencies for nurses and that’s shocking to me. That goes back to the pandemic and Entrepreneurship. As black people we’re definitely smart enough to be business owners. That is why I want to promote myself and my business so much because where I’m from in my area there is no one else doing this for us.”

Do you believe nurses were burned after vaccination mandates in the health care force?

“I do. Some rejected it for religious reasons and others don’t want to take the vaccine for other reasons such as rumors of the vaccine being bad. Some professionals decided to go ahead and get it, some decided not to. Although, I think that it impacted all healthcare workers. Facilities are not able to be staffed properly because you have nurses that quit the nursing field all together due to the pandemic. We need more nurses that are strong enough and encouraged enough to go out there and fight.”

Are nurses turning to entrepreneurship to keep their careers?

“Well I can speak on this from personal experience. I absolutely love being a nurse, there’s nothing else I want to do with my life. Many may feel the same way! There are a lot of nurses taking that leap of faith into entrepreneurship, I’m one of them.”

May is National Stroke Awareness month– what are a few different ways a loved one can care for someone who has had a stroke?

“Make sure that you’re bathing and dressing them. When they have a stroke sometimes they’re physically impaired because of that stroke. You also want to make sure you increase the function ability, meaning their mobility. Your loved one always needs strengthening due to being weakened by having that stroke. In some cases it makes them unable to move properly. Rehabilitation is a big part in helping people who have had a stroke. Having professionals like social workers, caseworkers, occupational, and physical therapists help monitor their side effects. Their medications need to be monitored. They also need to be monitored for new symptoms of another stroke. Unfortunately, once they have one stroke they are more inclined to have another.”

What if the loved one can not abandon work/ duties to tend to someone? What tactics of care can they provide?

“Well when that comes into play with the patient’s family, the patient is assigned a home health care agency. The agency will send nurses out weekly or two to three times a week. Agencies may also send out therapists like occupational and physical therapists a couple of times a week. When a family member can’t take care of a person who has had a stroke a facility is provided for them. Insurance is a large factor, the insurance company takes care of the cost but it is a benefit when you have situations that prevent the family taking care of their loved one. “

“Taking care of someone with a stroke is about after-care. Once someone has a stroke their recovery is very important. Help them, but you also want to encourage them to do activities for themselves. Again, that recovery tactic after a stroke is important. The person should be encouraged to be able to start living their life again. Having a stroke is a traumatic experience and it really changes how you function daily in your life. Make sure you’re encouraging them to get items for themselves and slowly you will see improvement of how they move; lifting their arms, how they get up out of the bed, how they turn in the bed. Everything has to be encouraged. It is kind of like the person has to fight to get back their normal functions in life.”

Elite Nurses Staffing Agency LLC is seeking certified and qualified LPNs and CNAs. Vaccinations have to be up to date as they do work with hospitals and nursing homes. More information can be found on their website or by visiting the  Elite Nurses Facebook.

Let us know if you are a nurse or health care professional in the comments. How many years have you dedicated to healthcare?