Lori Seeley Santasiera, a certified nurse assistant, leads residents of Excelcare at Lewes in games of Uno, Yahtzee, Bingo and her own version of Wheel of Fortune.

To Santasiera, 49, it is the small, personal connections that make a difference: a friendly hello, getting everyone involved in activities.

“You try to make their life exciting, to brighten them up,” she said.

That happens in many ways. Santasiera greets by name each of the nearly 60 residents in the Sussex Unit, a long-term care section of the Excelcare facility.

She has found it helps to get to know the interests of residents and to share her own.

 “I find out what their interests are; then I can work around it,” Santasiera said. 

Proof of how far she will go for the residents, Santasiera, a devoted Philadelphia Eagles fan, allows residents who are Baltimore Ravens followers to watch Ravens games on her computer tablet.

When she was preparing for her wedding in June, she asked residents’ advice for the food.

“They were all engaged in it,” Santasiera said. “I didn’t need a wedding planner; I had these people.”

She went with the recommendation for mac and cheese, a hit among young wedding reception guests, but passed on the suggestion for a meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

The farm in Salisbury, Md., where she lives with her husband is a common topic of conversation with residents. The animals vary from time to time; they now include chickens, ducks and dogs.

“I have farm animals and I talk about them,” Santasiera said. “And they’re always like, ‘What do you have now?’”

Despite her admitted lack of a strong singing voice, she doesn't hesitate to use song for motivation.

“I’ll sing to the residents,” Santasiera said. “It’s what I know. It brightens their day. I cannot sing a tune at all, but I’ll sing. Little things like that put a smile on their faces.”

Playing music and singing along can help convince a reluctant resident to cooperate.

“A lot of older people are afraid of showers – it comes with age,” Santasiera said. “It could be they have dementia, a new environment or they just don’t like the wet feeling. You have to find a way to make them feel better.”

She and her future husband moved two years ago to Salisbury, about an hour’s drive from Santasiera’s job.

“I came here because I want to be close to the ocean, and my husband wanted more land,” she said. “And I wanted a first-floor bedroom. So we compromised.”

They live close enough to be within a few hours' drive of her parents, her son and her daughter.

Santasiera had taught preschool for a few years, but left her job to take care of her aging maternal grandmother, R. Virginia Manzi, who died in January 2009 at the age of 86.

“My grandma’s wish was never to be in a nursing home,” she said. “I made that possible.”

Caring for her grandmother for 10 years led to her current profession.

Her grandmother had several falls in her final years.  

“When my grandmother got out of the hospital, one of the nurses who was checking up on her, they’re like, ‘You should really look into being a CNA. You’re really good at this,'” Santasiera recalls. “That’s how I got started getting into this.”

She entered a one-year CNA training program through Fair Acres, one of the largest nursing home chains in the country, studying at night and caring for her grandmother during the day. She then began working as a nurse for the company. 

Santasiera stopped working in early 2020, taking a few years off after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

She returned to work a few years later at another facility in Broomal, Pa., before moving to Salisbury and taking her current job.

Two of the residents in her care are Dorothy Bolick and Eleanor Gunkle. Eleanor is the mother of Terry Bolick and Dorothy is Terry’s mother-in-law.

“I’ve never seen that before,” Santasiera said. “I’ve seen sisters and brothers in the same room, but not mothers-in-law.”

Terry Bolick raves about the work of the staff at Excelcare at Lewes, especially Santasiera, for taking the time to work with her mother and mother-in-law.

“Lori is wonderful,” said Joe Kupa, the administrator of Excelcare at Lewes. “I’ve gotten so many compliments. The families adore her.”

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Santasiera said. “It’s my passion. I like to help. Even if it’s a kid, a special needs person, an old person. It makes a difference in someone’s life.”