Restorative nursing aide helps maintain a good quality of life for

When Alvin E. Okvath goes into work, he brightens peoples' lives. Pretty much when I was growing up I just wanted to make a difference and do something worth doing, he said. When someone turns around and says 'thank you' it can really make your day.

Okvath, who is 21, has worked as a restorative nursing aide at the Union Printers Home on South Union Blvd. for about a year and a half. I maintain a quality of living for the elderly. I keep them in a physical condition so they can do things they need to do, he said. Some of his patients need help getting dressed, getting out of bed and eating. Okvath assists with range of motion exercises to help patients carry out simple daily tasks.

To become a restorative nursing aide, Okvath received his certification from the Colorado Board of Nursing through Pikes Peak Community College. He attended Palmer High School and spent his free time playing soccer and basketball.

Okvath has found that working with the staff at the Union Printers Home is very much like playing on a team. Everyone is willing to help. We have a home-environment feeling.

And he joins his patients at the breakfast table as well. I help monitor their diets and food intake. I help make sure they maintain the strength they need, Okvath said. The food there is actually good. I wouldn't give them something I wouldn't eat.

Helping others comes naturally to Okvath, who also spends time outside of work with a family friend who has Parkinson's disease. He also has helped his grandmother, who has had shoulder and back surgery. Another reason I got into this field was to be able to help my family as well, he said.

When he is not working with the elderly, Okvath plays basketball and pool. It gives me a chance to relax, because, you know, people are not always happy you're working with them. I've been called every name in the book, he said.

Frustrated patients do not seem to bother him, though. There are a lot of rewarding parts to my job. A lot of people, when you start working with them, aren't able to walk. But after a while, they get some of their strength back, he said.

Okvath hopes to continue down the medical path and is interested in becoming a registered nurse, a paramedic or a firefighter. I'm thinking about joining the military to do search and rescue - to do my part for the country, he said. That would give me the experience after four years to be a firefighter or paramedic.

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