Sharon Health Care Center Veteran Climbing the Ranks to Become Lead Nurse

Sharon Health Care Center Veteran Climbing the Ranks to Become Lead Nurse

SHARON, C.T. — Matt Bloodgood is a man of service.

The Pine Plains, New York native dedicated eight years of his life to serving his country as a member of the New York Army National Guard. He spent all of 2012 overseas serving as an Army medic for nine months in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain, located off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. He then spent three months in Kuwait. 

Matt Bloodgood during his time in the New York Army National Guard.

After his contract with the Army ended in 2018, he found another way to serve the people.

He returned to New England after receiving his nursing certification in Cleveland, Ohio. He began pursuing careers in the healthcare industry and landed a job at Sharon Health Care Center as RN Supervisor. Eight months into the new job, he was promoted to Infection Control Nurse. In early January, he took on the role of Director of Nursing Services.

Bloodgood’s work focuses on day-to-day operations including managing staffing schedules, reporting to the Department of Public Health, and working with the team at Sharon Health Care Center to deliver high-quality patient care. 

One of his favorite parts about the job is bonding with the residents and building personal connections with those he cares for.

“I enjoy the interactions with the residents and the staff,” he said. “I like to see, when you do something for a resident, they show appreciation and that’s always a good thing to see that you’re helping and making a difference, and that you’re there.”

He said his time in the Army taught him personal skills that have translated from helping overseas to helping at home.

“I deal with a lot of different things whether it’s injuries, narcotics… I have the honesty and integrity to make sure everything’s done properly,” Bloodgood said. “I go home and there’s still things I know I have to get done. Instead of pushing them aside, I do them because it just needs to be done and that’s the discipline of the military.”

Sharon Health Care Center Administrator Elise Cecil said she’s glad to be working alongside Bloodgood.

“He is an excellent nurse. He’s a good leader,” she said. “Does what he needs to do and goes above and beyond when it’s needed.”

Sharon Health Care Center Director of Nursing Services Matt Bloodgood and Administrator Elise Cecil.

Bloodgood said his fellow staff members don’t let the impacts of staffing shortages in the healthcare industry impact the care they provide to those at Sharon Health Care Center.

“Everyone’s experienced staffing shortages and it makes it hard and people are overworked and they’re tired and they come in…and they still do their job,” he said. “Everyone treats the residents with respect. And just seeing the residents be happy because of the care that’s being provided for them.”

Cecil said Bloodgood is a great example of what hard work and a “heart to work in healthcare” can look like. Less than two years at Sharon Health Care Center and the 33-year-old has shown his passion for healthcare.

Within the next year, he hopes to learn more and grow as the Director of Nursing Services. He has dreams to pursue further education in healthcare. When he’s not running around the nursing unit, he’s either running around the basketball court, flying down the ski slopes, or playing video games.