Former Pleasant View resident Lillian Podlesny recently took the time to reflect on experiences working at Pleasant View Rest Home throughout the expansion of the property in the 70’s. Starting out, Lillian always knew she wanted to go into nursing. After getting her education from Philadelphia General Hospital, Lillian aspired to become a nurse in a hospital. It was never her desire to work in geriatric care, due to it having a bad reputation at the time.
When she tried to find work in a hospital in the 70’s, even after offering to work holidays and weekends, there were no positions available. During that time, she started her first position in a rest home before hearing about and moving to Pleasant View Rest Home in 1972. Lillian quickly climbed to the position of assistant Director of Nursing (DON) in the facility, helping with the planning and management of all the expansions at Pleasant View, including the new 130 beds in the skilled unit. Along with the expansions, Lillian gained experience with hiring and training new nurses in the home, which helped her later in her career.
Reflecting on some of her fondest memories while working at Pleasant View, Lillian talked about how the residents would spend their free time around a crafting table “Schnibbling.” Schnibbing is a craft where old fabric scraps are repurposed. Lillian would occasionally bring her youngest daughter with her to work and she would sit at the craft table and learn to Schnibble with the residents. Her daughter also was able to help out with little tasks and visit residents to boost their mood.
With having such a small population of residents, close relationships formed between the residents and their families. Lillian recalls that a typical Sunday included only two staff members to care for the residents. Staff would often eat in the cafeteria with the residents and have the same food that they would have. With Pleasant View being surrounded by corn fields at the time, residents enjoyed sitting on the balcony and watching Edna Hoffer, founder of Pleasant View, working out in the corn fields on the tractor.
Lillian left Pleasant View in 1978 to pursue a Director of Nursing position at another nursing home, but credits so many of her learned experiences and skills to Pleasant View. Lillian is grateful for all that Pleasant View taught her in the time that she worked there and claims it helped her for the remainder of her career.
When asked what advice she would give to younger people aspiring to be in the medical field, Lillian stated that, “For anyone who truly wants to help people, going into healthcare is truly rewarding. You have to truly care about your profession in health care to make a difference. People who are the most effective in healthcare are those who truly care about the job they are doing.” When asked about one of the hardest parts about becoming a DON, Lillian stated that when you are at the top, you lose touch of a lot of the hands-on care and basic nursing skills you learned early in your career.
After retiring, Lillian came to Pleasant View Communities because she knew that she could expect quality care. Lillian stated that Pleasant View was always a first choice because, “It was more like home to me.” In her free time Lillian often volunteered and worked at the community library. She was “absolutely delighted” to see the new Manheim Community Library at the Kreider Farms Cultural Center after years of anticipation.
Lillian has since moved to Ohio to live with her daughter.
