There’s a map at the back of the room where Maureen Fisher teaches. It’s filled with pins indicating where in the world her students are from. Students enroll in The Fieldstone School to begin a career in healthcare, learning skills which often take them in a new direction. That’s one of the best things about teaching healthcare at The Fieldstone School, says longtime teacher and licensed nurse Maureen Fisher, LPN. She loves to help students change their lives and find success. Some of The Fieldstone School students are at a stage in their lives in which they are unhappy with what they are doing and are looking for a different path. Providing encouragement, motivation and positivity are key to helping them succeed, Fisher said. “This is their steppingstone, right here. They need a good, strong foundation in healthcare,” Fisher said of the programs at The Fieldstone School. Fisher teaches Certified Nurse Aide and Home Health Aide classes. Students taking these courses can go on to work as a home health aide or in a nursing home and gain good experience. She has taught at The Fieldstone School for six years across two different time periods. After Fisher left the school for semi-retirement, she became bored. So, in September 2024, her passion for nursing and educating others drew her back to Fieldstone. In her classes, she emphasizes the importance of respect and dignity in healthcare and teaches students to take care of patients “the right way.” Treat patients “the way that you would want to be treated,” she advises her students, “the way that you would want your mother to be treated, or your father, or your family to be treated.” When students graduate and work in clinical settings, she said, it’s the real world. People need them and are depending on them to be there and take care of them. Fisher encourages her students to pursue careers in healthcare because the field offers job security and opportunities for advancement. She finds herself acting as a career counselor, helping students decide on their future direction and supporting them during their clinical experiences. Students at The Fieldstone School come from diverse backgrounds. They range in age from their 20s to older students who are changing careers. Some are just entering the healthcare workforce while others may already be international physicians. A few students had been engineers in Kenya who were transitioning to the healthcare field for job security, she recalled. Others were doctors from India who needed different certifications and the one-on-one experience of clinical work in an American setting. Many of Fisher’s students are planning to go into nursing or even become physician assistants. They all need patient-focused experience, a requirement for college. And they are all drawn to a career in which they can advance. “And then I have my wonderful students that want to go into the field simply to help people,” Fisher continued. “They are very excited. They want to learn.” She tries to make learning interesting and fun, even injecting some humor into her lessons. For example, while teaching a class on death and dying, she dispels myths about death – acting out fears that bodies in rigor mortis may move unexpectedly, raising her arms in a spooky way to help the students fight their fears. It’s all part of emphasizing that her students will have other people’s lives in their hands. All humor aside, they need to take their job seriously and know how to respond if something happens. Fisher’s interest in nursing began when she was about 8 years old. When her mother was sick, she would make meals for her and ensure she was drinking enough fluids to stay hydrated. She also took care of her sister and brother when school-age illnesses took their toll. Plus, both her grandmother, mother and aunt were nurses. She had plenty of real-life advice from them. Fisher grew up in Worcester and on the South Shore and then studied nursing at the former New Hampshire Technical College. She has spent her 35-year career in geriatrics, working with older people in nursing homes. She also has taught nursing classes at the American Red Cross. “There’s something about working with the elderly,” she mused. “Respecting them, and wanting to take care of them the right way,” she said. “It’s just the way I would want to be treated, with respect and dignity.” To highlight the impact of her teaching, Fisher shared a story about a former student who became a nurse practitioner. Fisher had gone to her doctor’s office for a physical examination and was asked if she minded seeing the nurse practitioner. It was during COVID-19 and she was wearing a mask. She didn’t recognize the nurse practitioner (also masked) but the nurse practitioner recognized Fisher! She realized it was one of her former students. The teacher was ecstatic about her student’s success. She had not been aware the student was going to become a nurse practitioner. “She’s smart as a whip,” Fisher said of her former student. “So proud of her!” With teachers like Fisher, The Fieldstone School provides its students with the knowledge and experience they need to succeed in the healthcare field -- and its teachers with the inspiration and joy of helping their students change their lives.

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