RONDA JUSENIUS

Growing up living close to her grandparents in rural Eastern Washington set the stage for her strong desire to care for the elderly. Spending her summers swimming in the salty Soap Lake, the town she was born and enjoying horseback riding, helping with wheat harvest and catching wild kittens in Wilson Creek where she lived were a few of the highlights as a child, but it was not all the activities that kept drawing her back year after year, it was her people, her grandparents, Jesse and Clarye and Arnold and Dorothy that made it special.

In grade school, Ronda and her family moved from rural Eastern Washington as her father pursued a career with Boeing, later to settle in the PNW. Though she had moved, she always considered Soap Lake and Wilson Creek home, having built strong loving relationships with her grandparents, she excitedly went back every summer to stay with them. She loved to be a part of their everyday lives, the conversations, the laughing and the many stories told about how they grew up. One of the many memories Ronda has of her grandparents is ending a hot summer day watching the sun go down and of course having Grampa’s favorite dessert, vanilla ice cream. She loved their way of doing things, their work ethic and their good old fashioned standards for living. Ronda’s passion for older people started here and has remained as she grew up.

Ronda was a stay at home mom and worked part-time in a local restaurant. When her three daughters were high school age she decided to go to college with the idea of becoming a registered nurse. She knew she had a heart for people and hoped to make a difference in their lives. Ronda received her Associates of Arts & Science Degree from Pierce College in 1998 and furthered her studies in nursing and graduated from Highline College in 2000 with her Associates Degree in Nursing as a Registered Nurse. She began her career in the Critical Care Unit at St Josephs Medical Center, she then moved on to explore other areas of nursing to hewn her skills and to be a resource for people. She has worked in  Assisted Living, Skilled Nursing and Hospice.  Ronda has spent hours coordinating patient care, advocating for patients and their families in all her experiences of nursing. She has worked closely with hospital case managers to ensure safe discharges for senior patients going home and has completed many nursing assessments to determine appropriate levels of care.

Ronda understands the complexities of change in senior’s lives when they become unable to care for themselves at home and are no longer safe to live alone. Their hopes to remain independent, wanting to stay in the home they have always known can place the family in a quandary. She also understands the many challenges the adult child has as they become the decision maker for their parents. Ronda hopes to assist the elderly and their families as they walk through this journey of change.

Ronda currently lives in Buckley with her husband, her three dogs and her horse “Lil Boy”. She enjoys spending time with her husband, children, grandchildren and her animals.