A Career That Grows With You: Audrey’s Story at New Dawn Homecare
For Audrey, nursing has always been about people. At New Dawn Homecare, she’s found a place where she can care for others while continuing to grow in her profession.
Audrey Moore knew she wanted to be a nurse long before she became a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN).
When she was 14 years old, she took a student job at a long-term care home. She helped residents who had difficulty eating, cleaned up afterward, and, perhaps most importantly, spent time with people who did not always have family nearby.
“I loved it,” Audrey recalls. “It felt like really rewarding work, felt like I was helping with something that was very necessary.”
Looking back, Audrey says that experience gave her a strong sense that nursing was where she belonged. About 12 years ago, she completed her LPN training at NSCC Marconi Campus. After working in a nursing home in Halifax, Audrey eventually returned home to Cape Breton and joined New Dawn Homecare, where she’s been since 2020.
A place where LPNs can grow
Over the past six years, Audrey has taken on more responsibility at New Dawn, including stepping into a Team Lead role. It’s an opportunity she doesn’t take for granted, particularly because she says LPNs aren’t always given the same opportunities to advance.
“A lot of the times, if you are hired as an LPN, like at the hospital, you’re an LPN until you retire,” Audrey says. “But New Dawn has made me the Team Lead. A lot of times, it’s just RNs that get those opportunities. So it felt like they believed in me and were really investing in me.”
That investment has included professional development opportunities such as a foot care course and an HR seminar — training that has allowed Audrey to continue building her skills and advance her career.
Nursing, with a more personal connection
Today, Audrey’s work often looks very different from the fast-paced, high-volume environment many nurses associate with healthcare.
New Dawn delivers nursing care at The Cove Guest Home in Sydney, where Audrey’s responsibilities include helping to coordinate staff and the client care. On other days, she provides homecare, which can include medication administration, wound care, post-surgical care, chronic disease management, and documentation. In that setting, the focus is on one person.
“You don’t have to worry about a dozen other people laying in beds all wanting things at the same time,” Audrey explains. “It’s just that one client.”
That one-on-one environment is one of the biggest draws of New Dawn Homecare for Audrey.
She gets to know the people she supports — their routines, their needs, and their personalities. And, because New Dawn works to provide consistent care, nurses can develop genuine relationships with their clients and their families.
“It’s nice that we can keep people in their homes for as long as possible, because that helps them mentally, it helps them physically. It is very dignified, aging at home,” she says.
New Dawn’s healthcare program is built around this philosophy, providing nursing care that supports people to remain in their communities and where they’re most comfortable.
Independence — with support when you need it
Homecare isn’t without challenges, and Audrey is clear that it requires nurses who are comfortable working independently and taking responsibility for their clients. But she also describes the work as more personal, more focused and less frantic than many traditional healthcare environments.
“It is a big change for some staff to go from having like a pile of people to ask and consult with and things like that to just having to rely on your own instincts for the most part,” she says. “But, you’re not going to be run off your feet, and you don’t feel like you’re just a cog in the wheel. I know all the New Dawn office staff know me by name, and I can call the team anytime and they’ll answer the phone and answer any questions, which is nice.”
For Audrey, that combination of independence and accessible management creates a workplace where nurses can make decisions while knowing support is available when they need it.
At New Dawn Homecare, an LPN can spend a shift focused on the individual in front of them, taking time to notice the little things, build trust, and see the difference good care can make.
A schedule that works with real life
Audrey says New Dawn offers the best work-life balance she’s had in her nursing career.
She works 12-hour shifts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursdays and Fridays are more flexible, covering Team Lead responsibilities, foot care and other work. That flexibility lets her fit in time with her six-year-old daughter, including school drop-off and pick-up on those days.
“I could never really do that with any other nursing job.”
That flexibility goes beyond Audrey’s own schedule. New Dawn’s current LPN posting includes full-time, part-time and casual positions, with scheduling designed to suit nurses who are balancing family, school or retirement, or who simply want a different pace.
A different kind of nursing career
Audrey’s path shows what a career at New Dawn can look like. She started with a passion for caring for people, became an LPN, joined New Dawn, took on new training, expanded her responsibilities and became a Team Lead. Through it all, she has kept doing what drew her to nursing in the first place: helping people.
“I really do care about the staff, care about the residents,” she says. “It’s a lot of work, but I do find it rewarding.”
If you’re an LPN looking for a different kind of nursing career, one that combines clinical responsibility with meaningful one-on-one care, professional growth, flexibility and a supportive team, New Dawn is recruiting Licensed Practical Nurses for full-time, part-time and casual homecare positions.
Learn more and apply: New Dawn Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) opportunity
