OnShift has held some form of our Applause Awards for a dozen years, and the stories we receive about passionate, hardworking senior care professionals never fail to wow us. From new CNAs just entering the field out of high school to tenured professionals who have dedicated more than 30 years to serving seniors, the nominations we receive showcase that passion, dedication, and talent exist at all levels of senior care.
The discussion in our industry focuses a lot on workforce challenges, but the Applause Awards seek to highlight the positives – creativity, innovation, leadership, determination, and compassion – that can get overlooked in the senior care workforce. Here are some examples:
- “When a resident's granddaughter was getting married, he took the extra time to help the resident get ready, including helping him with his suit and tie so he could look his best for such an important family occasion.”
- “Her care doesn't stop when her shift ends. Even when she goes on vacation, she thinks about our residents and will bring back gifts that she knows they will genuinely love.”
- “She will stop what she is doing to process a new hire even though she may have piles on her desk and multiple reports due she makes that team member feel like they are the only person in the world.”
- “During Alabama’s historic snowstorm in 2025, she stayed overnight in the facility alongside her staff, ensuring residents received uninterrupted, high-quality care despite hazardous conditions.”
- “She designed and implemented a facility-wide notification procedure so that every staff member learns when a resident has passed. A song is played over the facility sound system as a quiet, shared signal of remembrance, and the resident's photo is placed on a memorial wall so their presence is honored rather than simply cleared from a room list. What began as a small gesture has become a defining part of our culture: staff, families, and even fellow residents now recognize these moments as proof that this facility sees residents as people, not just census numbers.“
- “She answers when no one expects her to answer, solves problems most people never even knew existed, and rarely asks for recognition for any of it. Behind every successfully filled shift is a resident who had someone there to care for them and an employee who knew someone was working just as hard to support them.”
- “I have personally witnessed her come into the community on her days off to spend time with residents who were passing. That is something you cannot put on a job description or require from an employee. She chose to be there because she cared about those residents and wanted them to feel comforted and not alone.”
This year, we received nearly 500 nominations across our four award categories that honor dedicated caregivers (Best in Care Award), administrators and executive directors (Innovator Award), schedulers (Scheduler of the Year Award), and human resources professionals (Impact Award). After narrowing the Best In Care Award nominations down to six finalists, we opened the winner decision to public voting and received hundreds of votes.
We are pleased to announce that the 2026 OnShift Applause Award winners are:
- Impact Award:
- Dr. Marth A. Klima, Plymouth Place
- Shelly Lee, Nicholasville Nursing & Rehabilitation
- Mark Loy, Buckeye Care & Rehabilitation
- Innovator Award:
- Kelsey Barney, St. Leonard, CHI Living Communities
- Kristen Andrews Birdsong, Kensington Health & Rehabilitation Center
- Tessa Parks, Renton Health & Rehabilitation
- Scheduler of the Year Award:
- Dekenya Alexander, Quality Center for Rehabilitation & Healing
- Monique Holland, Good Samaritan Society - Comforcare
- LaToiya Remy, Legacy Pointe at UCF
- Best in Care Award:
- Kaylynn Crawford, Bellaire at Stone Port and The Legacy at North Augusta
We are honored to play a small part in supporting and recognizing these outstanding individuals. Congratulations to our winners and nominees! We appreciate all that you do!
Learn more about each winner here.