First comes the yelling. Then come smiles and hugs.

For 13 years, Morris Commesor has been a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at assisted-living facility the Glenn in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and the job can be just as emotionally demanding as it is physical. He works in memory care, helping senior residents living with dementia — a cognitive disease that worsens thinking, remembering and reasoning — do everything from dressing in the morning to tucking into bed at night.

Their condition means they’re not always so happy to accept his assistance.

“It’s a tough job, but I can’t look at it as challenging” he said. “You have to actually come before with a positive mindset.”

Like how Commesor worked with a certain 90-year-old resident who demanded his departure whenever he came to her room in the morning. He’d come back 15 minutes later and successfully convince her to forgo wearing the casual T-shirt and sweatpants for a nicer dress.

“Every day is special,” he’d tell her. And when her visiting children would compliment her outfit, she explained, “It’s him. He helped me. He’s a nice guy.”

Commesor has also worked part time since 2019 at SilverCreek on Main, a senior living community in Maple Grove, Minnesota. That’s a reflection of the demand for workers in his field.

The nursing home industry lost 14.1% of its total workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it still hasn’t recovered. There’s a high turnover rate among CNAs and a national shortage of them, with workers citing low pay and burnout as reasons. But the job is only growing more important, as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age.

The 65-and-older population should more than double by 2075 in Minnesota, and thousands more assisted-living positions will likely open in the next 10 years. Home health and personal care aides are the most in-demand occupations in the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Commesor, who is Liberian but emigrated from Sierra Leone with his family in 2007, is one of the many immigrant caregivers in Minnesota. He’s also one of the best, winning Caregiver of the Year in 2017 from LeadingAge Minnesota, a nonprofit association of senior service organizations.

“He exemplifies the notion of caring for a resident like they are a family member, whether it is singing to a resident, being at their side for daily cares or consoling family members as their loved one’s life is coming to an end,” read a news release announcing the award.

In an interview edited for clarity and length, Commesor shared what it’s like to be in his shoes.

I’m here at 6 o’clock in the morning. Down here, we have 24 residents, three staff members and sometimes extra help. My job is to check on the residents, make sure everyone is safe, and help them with their daily cares. We help them with laundry, showers, then we go to the dining room and serve them meals. After breakfast, there are those that need help using the restroom. Sometimes there is somebody who needs to be escorted to the salon to get their hair cut or get their hair done.

We also have an activities calendar. Sometimes we do exercise, and then we’ll turn a movie on. There are other volunteers that will come in and play music and bingo with the residents.

Seeing smiles on the seniors’ faces every time I come to work. When I’m driving home, it just kind of makes my day when I know I got to help somebody and bring that joy to their face. When you actually meet somebody who cannot help themselves, and you step in and give them that help, at the end of the day, you put a smile on that person’s face.

It’s a lesson of, that could be me tomorrow, that could be my grandparents. For me, this is something I think is very, very important in life. Working in senior living, it’s something where you make a difference in a person’s life.

It’s not their fault, right? Just like you and me, they live their normal lives, they get to tomorrow, and boom, this disease comes in.

It can be challenging, but you can’t look at it as a problem. I’ve sat down and thought about how one of these days I’ll be old, and maybe I’m going to need help. Somebody could look at me and say, “That’s his problem.” So we need to help them.

When you approach somebody who is not willing to be helped, I tell most of my co-workers, you don’t have to spend all your time standing there. It’s a type of behavior, so just step out, and go to somebody else. If Paul doesn’t want to get up right now, maybe Peter is waiting to get up. Go start your day there. Help those that are willing to be helped. Then you work your way back, and the same person that refused you an hour ago will be willing to get up. If you need a break, take a break, which they tell us all the time. It’s important to refresh your mind.

It teaches you lessons about taking care of yourself. There can be certain foods that you eat too much of, certain activities that you feel aren’t important, like exercise. Before I became a nursing assistant, I didn’t want to exercise, but after seeing the seniors exercise, I started going to the gym at the apartment I was living at and said, “This is helpful!”

I would encourage anyone thinking about becoming a nursing assistant to give it a try. Personally, I was not interested until I took the classes and was interacting with the residents. I got used to it, I’m loving it every day, and working with the elderly is something I’ve enjoyed on a daily basis.

If you are somebody who loves helping people, it’s a good field to work in. It’s not just about the pay you get, it also makes you feel like you are contributing in society.

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