Celebrating Arosa’s RN Care Managers During Nurses Week

During National Nurses Week, we celebrate the nurses who bring compassion, expertise, and advocacy to patients and families every single day. At Arosa, nursing extends far beyond clinical care. It’s about guiding families through difficult decisions, preventing crises before they happen, offering reassurance during uncertain moments, and helping clients maintain the highest quality of life possible at home.

Many people may not realize that some of Arosa’s Care Managers are also experienced Registered Nurses. This unique combination of nursing expertise and care management allows families to receive not only personalized support and coordination, but also an added layer of clinical insight and oversight that can make a meaningful difference in a client’s health, safety, and overall well-being.

From helping clients safely transition home after hospitalizations to identifying medication concerns, coordinating with physicians, and navigating complex healthcare systems, RN Care Managers help bridge the gap between medical care and everyday life.

This Nurses Week, we’re proud to spotlight three incredible Arosa RN Care Managers who are making a lasting impact in the lives of the clients and families they serve.

Sheila Goode, RN: Bringing Decades of Clinical Experience to Families in Middle Tennessee

For Sheila Goode, RN Care Manager in Arosa’s Middle Tennessee office, nursing has always been deeply personal. Inspired by her grandmother, who was also a nurse, Sheila’s passion for caregiving began early and eventually led her into a career spanning more than 30 years.

Throughout her nursing journey, Sheila has worked across intensive care, emergency medicine, cardiology, hospice, home health, surgical recovery, and long-term care. Those experiences have shaped the calm, compassionate, and knowledgeable approach she brings to care management today.

“The smiles of my clients and their families keep me motivated,” Sheila shared. “It is rewarding to navigate medical issues for clients who do not understand the healthcare system.”

As an RN Care Manager, Sheila uses both clinical expertise and emotional understanding to support families during some of life’s most challenging moments. Her nursing background allows her to quickly recognize potential concerns, assess changes in condition, and advocate for clients while still honoring their wishes and independence.

In one situation, Sheila identified that a client had been prescribed a blood thinner dosage that was too high for her body size and weight. By quickly contacting the physician and pharmacy, she prevented the medication from being filled and ensured the client received a safer dosage instead.

For Sheila, being an RN Care Manager means offering families reassurance that someone knowledgeable is watching over every detail.

“The RN Care Manager adds an additional layer of protection for clients,” she explained. “We have expert knowledge of medications, complex diagnoses, treatments, and procedures.”

Her impact also extends beyond medical care. Sheila shared that one of the moments she is most proud of involved helping arrange funeral plans and a final resting place for a client who had no remaining family and no plans in place.

“The role of a care manager is comprehensive and multifaceted,” Sheila said. “By developing personal relationships with clients, we gain valuable insights into their lives, and it truly is a privilege to be entrusted with that information.”

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Rebecca Bass, RN: Helping Clients Safely Navigate Healthcare at Home

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Rebecca Bass, RN Care Manager at Arosa’s Crystal Coast location, brings a hands-on and innovative approach to supporting clients and families. With a background in ER and trauma nursing, dialysis care, and healthcare education, Rebecca has spent more than a decade caring for patients in both high-pressure and deeply personal situations.

Her emergency room experience taught her how to think quickly, triage concerns, and remain calm during stressful moments, skills that continue to shape the way she approaches care management today.

Rebecca often helps clients avoid unnecessary hospital visits by offering nursing assessments, coordinating telehealth visits, arranging lab work from the client’s home, and helping families better understand available medical resources.

One client Rebecca worked with had not physically left her home in over a year due to medical limitations. When new health concerns emerged, the family feared the client would not be able to attend an in-person doctor’s appointment. Rebecca coordinated directly with the physician, performed assessments and blood draws in the home, and helped facilitate treatment entirely through telehealth.

For Rebecca, being an RN Care Manager means being able to bridge the gap between healthcare and daily life for families who often feel overwhelmed.

“I think being an RN Care Manager makes you a one-stop shop,” she shared. “Families appreciate having a nurse they can call who knows their loved one personally.”

Rebecca also shared the story of helping reconnect a client living with dementia to his stepdaughters after years of isolation. Through ongoing communication, advocacy, and support, she helped rebuild family connections while also coordinating the client’s medical care and future planning.

Her work reflects how care management is often about much more than healthcare coordination. It’s about helping clients feel seen, supported, and connected again.

Ashley Matthews, RN: Advocacy, Compassion, and Critical Thinking in Care Management

In Kansas City, Ashley Matthews, RN Care Manager, was inspired to pursue nursing after helping care for her grandfather following a massive heart attack. That deeply personal experience shaped the way she views caregiving and family support today.

“My inspiration to become a nurse came from a deeply personal experience with my grandfather,” Ashley shared. “That experience showed me how important compassionate care and family support truly are.”

Ashley’s nursing career began as a CNA before advancing to become an RN. Over the years, she has worked across long-term care, cardiac intensive care, medical-surgical nursing, home health, and travel nursing. Those experiences now help her support families through a wide range of healthcare challenges.

What drew Ashley to care management was the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with clients and advocate for them beyond a single medical visit.

Her nursing background allows her to recognize subtle changes in a client’s condition, identify medication concerns, and proactively intervene when additional care or medical attention may be needed.

One moment that stands out in Ashley’s career involved recognizing that a client in a skilled rehabilitation facility was not receiving the level of critical care they needed. Through her clinical assessment and advocacy, she helped facilitate a transfer to the hospital where the client received timely medical intervention that ultimately saved their life.

Ashley has also experienced firsthand how care management can impact entire families. One of her most meaningful experiences involved supporting a medically fragile child and advocating for safer care and stability within the home. Over time, Ashley worked alongside healthcare providers, social services, and family members to help create a better future for both the child and their father.

“Seeing the progress they’ve made together has been incredibly rewarding,” Ashley shared. “It reminds me why advocacy and compassionate care matter so deeply.”

For Ashley, care management is about helping families feel informed, supported, and cared for during difficult and often overwhelming situations.

Why RN Care Managers Make a Difference

At Arosa, RN Care Managers bring together clinical knowledge, critical thinking, emotional support, and advocacy to help clients remain safer, more comfortable, and more empowered at home.

Unlike traditional home care alone, RN Care Management provides families with access to someone who can recognize early warning signs, coordinate with healthcare providers, navigate complex medical situations, and help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations whenever possible.

Whether through Concierge Nursing services, ongoing care management, or hands-on support for families navigating aging and healthcare challenges, these nurses provide an added layer of expertise and reassurance that can make an enormous difference in a client’s quality of life.

Care management is not just about appointments or paperwork. It’s about understanding the full picture of a client’s life, anticipating needs before they become crises, and helping families feel supported every step of the way.

Celebrating Nurses Week at Arosa

This Nurses Week, Arosa is proud to celebrate Sheila, Rebecca, Ashley, and all of the nurses across our organization whose compassion, advocacy, and expertise continue to change lives every day.

Their stories are a reminder that nursing is not only about medical care. It’s about human connection. It’s about helping families navigate uncertainty with confidence. And it’s about showing up for people during the moments that matter most.

To all nurses everywhere, thank you for the comfort, care, and dedication you bring to your communities each and every day.