Heart of Health: Amy Van Tassel finds joy in building relationships, providing hands-on care

More than 25 years ago, Amy Van Tassel, a single mother, made her living on the assembly line of a fish processing plant. Then, she found her true professional passion as a continuing care assistant (CCA).

She pondered studying to be an LPN or RN but concluded life as a CCA aligned perfectly with her preferred career path.

“We’re hands on,” she says of the CCA role. “We spend a lot of quality time with people. You have to make people be comfortable with you to be able to go in and do personal care for a complete stranger.”

Previously, Amy worked in a variety of care settings, such as emergency, palliative care and home support with the Victorian Order of Nurses. Currently, she works in restorative care at Digby General Hospital. Occasionally, she picks up additional shifts at Yarmouth Regional Hospital, Soldiers Memorial Hospital and Annapolis Valley Health Centre. 

Working primarily in restorative care, where most patients return home when they’re well enough, is especially rewarding, Amy says. “My number one focus when I go to work is giving my patients the best care that I am able to give.” She takes great pride in working for Nova Scotia Health and Digby General Hospital. “My grandfather said to me on his dying bed that everybody is somebody and that as long as I work this job, when I have a patient, every patient is him,” Amy adds, “that is how I look at everybody.”

Kim Melanson, a licensed practical nurse at Digby General Hospital emergency department, says Amy “always comes to work with a positive and happy approach and goes beyond for her patients every time. She’s amazing at what she does.”

Photo of Amy Van Tassel.