The Journey Here: Kayla (Sept. 2024)

At Concordia Lutheran Ministries, we are blessed with a dedicated team of compassionate employees who help us carry out our mission of caring every day.

Through our series of employee testimonials, “The Journey Here,” we’ll introduce you to team members, profiling their Concordia journey. The piece will be supplemented with a Q&A featured in our Faith in Caring magazine, offering further perspective on how our employees work as the hands and hearts of our mission.

We’re excited for you to meet Concordia Visiting Nurses (CVN) Hospice and Palliative Certified Clinician Kayla Miller:

Right Time, Right Place

When the opportunity arose, she grabbed onto it.

Three years ago, Kayla saw a gap in home health services. She felt patients needed a palliative clinician to serve as a bridge between medical-surgical (med-surg) care and hospice care.

“We didn’t have one,” Kayla said. “I said, ‘I want to be your palliative nurse.’”

Kayla started with Concordia as a med-surg nurse in 2016. Previously, she worked for a different nursing home, then briefly as a nurse in a jail. Some of her family members worked for Concordia and gave her a good impression of the company.

After five years of med-surg nursing, Kayla earned clinical certification for both palliative and hospice care. Kayla now follows patients across the treatment spectrum, from med-surg to palliative to hospice care. While she sees patients of the first two types through CVN, she sees hospice patients through Good Samaritan Hospice.

“Home health is where I’m at. This is the role for me,” Kayla said. “In their homes, I get to witness my patients showing their raw true selves.”

Patient Advocate

Kayla dedicates a great deal of time to her patients, including preparation. She analyzes files and calls her patients the night before visiting. She notes their conditions, medications and other factors of their care.

“For example, if they have chronic kidney disease, I want to check their last hemoglobin result,” she said. “If it’s low, I know they’re going to be pale and tired. I’m looking for anything I can educate myself on.”

Kayla considers herself a patient advocate and specializes in symptom management. She said some of her patients have felt unheard during their medical journey, and she makes sure to get them answers.

“I have chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia myself. They’re silent diseases,” Kayla said. “I know exactly how they feel.”

Distinguished Care

By now, others have seen Kayla’s passion and commended her for it. Kayla was a 2024 Stephen W. Johnson Distinguished Finalist, Concordia’s highest employee honor. Also in 2024, the Butler County Healthcare Consortium honored Kayla as one of 29 recipients of its Healthcare Hero Award.

“She deserves it,” said Charlotte Kaltenbaugh, palliative care manager for CVN. “She worked very hard to get certified in hospice and palliative care, and she brings comfort to our sickest home health patients.”

Charlotte said Kayla frequently tackles difficult issues with grace, and she doesn’t mind going the extra mile — literally. She said Kayla travels to the furthest reaches of CVN’s coverage area in Indiana County without complaint, even sometimes on weekends.

“Kayla is one of a kind,” Charlotte said. “She never shrinks from a challenge; she always rises to meet it.”

Holding a Dream

Kayla gives credit to her team for a portion of her success, and she credits the other portion to her hard work and training. She continues to pursue new ways to evolve within her role, but she’s thankful to Concordia for allowing her to use her expertise.

“Concordia uses 100% of an LPN’s skill set. We use every skill we learned in nursing school,” Kayla said. “I have complete confidence in myself and my team.”

Kayla often thinks back to nursing school, where she specialized in hospice care. Even early on, she felt drawn to palliative care. At times, that vision faded through the more direct care required in med-surg.

“It’s a complete change of mindset. You’re moving from curative to comfort,” she said. “Once you can find that fine line, you’ll blow it out of the water with palliative.”

But now, with her dream opportunity in hand — she’s not letting go.

“I absolutely love my job,” Kayla said.

View all open careers at ConcordiaCareers.org and connect with us on social to learn more about our employee culture! And, to learn more about Kayla’s perspective on her Concordia career, check out the September issue of Concordia’s Faith in Caring magazine.

Subscribe today by emailing giving@concordialm.org.

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Founded in 1881, Concordia Lutheran Ministries is a faith-based, CARF-accredited Aging Services Network and recipient of the inaugural Pennsylvania Department of Aging Excellence in Quality Care Award. As one of the largest nonprofit senior care providers in the country, the organization serves 50,000 people annually through in-home care and inpatient locations.