Bahaa Barsoum, R.N., has an uncanny ability to see great potential in people, even when they don’t see it in themselves.
The director of nursing (DON) at A.G. Rhodes Health and Rehab in Atlanta, GA, says it’s really no big deal. He’s simply repaying the debt he owes to dozens of people who cared enough to push him outside his comfort zone throughout his career. Now, he’s simply pushing back.
Barsoum credits his father with encouraging him to enter a field where he could follow his calling to help people. Barsoum had already earned a bachelor’s degree in business after a post-high-school stint in the U.S. Army. But he quit his job soon after that heart-to-heart talk, and applied for a certified nursing assistant (CNA) position at a nonprofit nursing home near his family’s home in Troy, NY.
With similar encouragement from supervisors and colleagues, Barsoum climbed the long-term services and supports (LTSS) career ladder over the next decade, becoming a licensed practical nurse (LPN) in 1996 and a registered nurse (RN) in 1998. He moved up from assistant director of nursing to director of nursing when supervisors assured him he would excel at those jobs.
Barsoum credits his wife with pushing him to apply for his current job at A.G. Rhodes. His Atlanta colleagues nominated Barsoum for the 2017 Joan Anne McHugh Award for Leadership in LTSS Nursing, which he received at this year’s LeadingAge Annual Meeting.
