Klotilda Xhuti Recognized as Nurse of the Year and Jean Regis as CNA of the Year

Klotilda Xhuti, RN, was named Nurse of the Year, and Jean Regis, CNA, was named Certified Nursing Assistant of the Year, at Hebrew SeniorLife’s annual Achievements in Nursing Excellence event. Hebrew SeniorLife is one of Boston’s Top Places to Work and New England’s largest nonprofit provider of senior health care and living communities.

Xhuti is a registered nurse at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston, and Regis works as a senior patient care associate at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center at NewBridge on the Charles in Dedham.

The Achievements in Nursing Excellence event, held in May at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston, also spotlighted four members of the nursing team to recognize the special role that nurses play on the care team. Patient Care Associate Daniel Anisfeld, Patient Care Associate Satish Sapkota, Staff Nurse Teodora Padure, RN, and Educational Specialist Anne O’Brien, MSN, RN, spoke about their career paths and the training and education programs offered by Hebrew SeniorLife.

Sapkota shared his story of growing up in Nepal and dreaming of becoming a nurse, but being unable to do so because of legal restrictions surrounding men working as nurses. After seeing an ad for Hebrew SeniorLife’s Nursing Assistant training program, he said, “Without hesitation, I applied, knowing it would be my first step toward achieving my lifelong dream of becoming a nurse.”

O’Brien is a West Roxbury resident who began her Hebrew SeniorLife career in 2015 as a nurse on the Rehabilitation Services Unit at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston. She discussed her decision to pursue becoming a clinical nurse leader through a master’s degree program at Regis College, which she will graduate from this summer. The support of donors “made all the difference when considering returning to school,” O’Brien said. “I hope to use the skills I’ve gained in my program to learn about different areas where we can improve, and to support the staff who do the hardest work of all.”

O’Brien was one of two nurses who received partial career development scholarships to earn a master’s in Clinical Nurse Leadership at Regis College. From 2020 through 2024, Hebrew SeniorLife supported the ongoing education goals of 33 individuals, from entry to doctoral level. Just this year, Hebrew SeniorLife provided $119,000 in scholarships. These funds are in addition to and separate from scholarships funded by the institution and from employee scholarships with money raised by the residents of NewBridge on the Charles and Orchard Cove.

Hebrew SeniorLife offers many opportunities for nurses to advance their careers through professional development, tuition assistance, and leadership opportunities. It serves as a clinical training site for 
students seeking RN, LPN, or CNA degrees, and trains nursing students in inpatient and outpatient 
settings from partner schools, including Academy Health Care, Regis College, Massachusetts College of 
Pharmacy and Health Sciences, MGH Institute of Health Professions, and Labouré 
College.

Programs include:

• Nurse Aide Training Program: Based at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, the Nurse Aide Training Program prepares learners for continued employment as entry-level certified nursing assistants through a combination of classroom and clinical education. This program is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and emphasizes basic nursing assistant skills and related knowledge. Upon successful completion of the MA State Competency Exam, the CNA will be recognized on the Massachusetts Health and Human Services Licensed Professionals Registry. With grant funding from Commonwealth Cooperation Workforce Training, we were able to partner with Jewish Vocational Services to expand training. Since its launch in March 2021, the program has trained more than 123 participants.
• CNA to Bachelor of Science in Nursing: This program is designed to help CNAs become nurses. Upon passing the NCLEX, graduates are automatically placed in the institute’s Geriatric New Nurse Residency Program, a five-year, part-time program with all clinical rotations done at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in partnership with St. Joseph’s College in Maine.
• Licensed Practical Nursing Program: In academic partnership with Quincy College, this program is a 10-month, full-time program designed to assist employees from all departments to become nurses. The recent cohort of graduates currently serves in the Geriatric New Nurse Residency Program. A third cohort of employees is scheduled to begin in fall 2025.
• Clinical Nurse Leader Program: The Master’s in Clinical Nurse Leader Program is made possible by a partnership between Regis College, Hebrew SeniorLife, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Graduates of the program are expert clinicians and leaders of nursing practice in the health care setting who can practice across the continuum of care. They are prepared to function in many settings and are responsible for leadership in patient care, use of evidence in practice, and the design and evaluation of models and systems of care.

If you are interested in joining our team for a fulfilling career, please visit our careers page.

About Hebrew SeniorLife
Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching, and redefining the possibilities of aging. Hebrew SeniorLife cares for more than 4,500 seniors a day across seven campuses throughout Greater Boston. Locations include: Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-Boston and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center-NewBridge in Dedham; NewBridge on the Charles, Dedham; Orchard Cove, Canton; Simon C. Fireman Community, Randolph; Center Communities of Brookline, Brookline; Jack Satter House, Revere; and Leyland Community, Dorchester. Founded in 1903, Hebrew SeniorLife also conducts influential research into aging at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, which has a portfolio of more than $98 million, making it one of the largest gerontological research facilities in the U.S. in a clinical setting. It also trains more than 500 geriatric care providers each year. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit our website or follow us on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.