Robbin Darden, regional recruiter for Morning Pointe Senior Living, is celebrating 15 years with the company this year, and she has accomplished a lot in her Morning Pointe career so far!
Starting Her Nursing Career
Growing up with a certified nursing assistant mother, Robbin knew she wanted to do something that would make a difference in the world. She started her caregiving career as a sitter, then became a CNA like her mom, but she didn’t stop there. She felt the calling to progress and become a nurse. Her family even came alongside and supported her studying.
“Nursing has to be part of your heart,” Robbin shared. “You can’t just do it for the money – it has to be part of your soul. I knew then what that benefit was going to be, and I’m living that now.”
In 2009, Robbin was working as the admissions nurse at a rehabilitation center in East Ridge when a co-worker referred her to the brand-new Morning Pointe of Hixson, Tennessee. She was encouraged to apply for the DON position, but by the time she did, the position was already filled. However, there was a floor nurse position open for second shift, and the Hixson team that interviewed her was impressed with her energy and offered her that job.
“I thought about it, and something in my inner spirit said to go ahead and take it,” Robbin recalled.
Her stint as a floor nurse there lasted three weeks. A DON position opened up at The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence in Collegedale, Tennessee, and Robbin was the perfect fit. Robbin worked in that role for six and a half years, until The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence in Chattanooga opened up. She helped open that building and stepped away as DON after the passing of her mother before coming back as a lead nurse.
2020
In 2020, everything changed.
Robbin was working as the lead nurse at The Lantern at Morning Pointe of Chattanooga on Easter night when the region was hit by a tornado outbreak. One EF3 tornado touched down in Chattanooga and directly hit both The Lantern and Morning Pointe of Chattanooga Assisted Living across the street. Both buildings were heavily damaged. Thankfully, none of the residents or associates at either building suffered major injury.
“It was an evening I will never forget,” Robbin said. “It was hard, but I just jumped right into the nurse mode taking care of the residents and moving them to safe places.”
She even remembers Greg A. Vital, Morning Pointe co-founder and president, being on site with his son and transporting a resident in his own truck to The Lantern in Collegedale to be cared for.
In the days following the tornado, Robbin continued to serve her residents and team members, taking care of residents’ medical needs in addition to placing them in appropriate communities for care. She also helped affected associates find places at sister Morning Pointe communities so they could continue their employment, and during that process, she found herself moving to Morning Pointe Senior Living’s home office in Ooltewah, Tennessee.
The home office team recognized Robbin’s dedication and experience, and she was soon helping communities around the company’s footprint as they needed clinical assistance during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That turned into helping with staffing, and soon she was working as a recruiter.
Her hard work didn’t go unnoticed. In December 2020, Robbin received Morning Pointe Senior Living’s Exceeding Expectations Award for the Appalachian Region for her heroic efforts during the tornado and the pandemic. Robbin found out about the award through a personal phone call from Morning Pointe’s other co-founder, CEO Franklin Farrow. “When I received that phone call and heard what my team felt about me, it brought such a great joy to my heart,” she said.
Both Chattanooga Morning Pointe communities were rebuilt and opened in 2021.
Current Role
Robbin is enjoying her current role as regional recruiter covering buildings in Morning Pointe’s Appalachian and Smoky Regions in Tennessee. Since she started as a recruiter, two other regional recruiters have come on board to support the growing company. “My team that I have now has been the greatest,” Robbin said.
And even though she is not in the assisted living, personal care, or memory care communities on a daily basis anymore, she knows her services are valuable.
“It’s still caring for others, doing for others when it comes to making sure our residents are cared for and that our staffing is covered,” she said. “That’s what gives me joy.”
Robbin added that she loves knowing that with her job, filling staffing not only provides for the residents but also ensures that current associates will get the breaks they need to live their own lives outside their working hours and spend time with their families.
“Does Morning Pointe truly grown their own?” she said. “Yes, they do. Thank you to Morning Pointe for trusting me and believing in me. This is where I will retire.”
Thank you, Robbin, for answering the call of nursing and blessing Morning Pointe’s residents and associates all over the Southeast.
