Testimonials
"Brenda has all of the qualities of a professional nursing expert, kind, and genuine, compassionate, and a person with high expectations and ethical responsibilities. Her skill set compromised a system process outcome-oriented.
During her short tenure, she implemented both new and improved systems, motivated everyone with who she came in contact. She worked tirelessly, providing guidance and education, and utilization of best practices. Ms. Sheppard's insight and problem-solving, along with her critical thinking, were amazing.
Her encouraging demeanor afforded all to embrace the momentum to achieve the goals and benchmarks set forth. She is truly an inspiration, colleague, most importantly, and proud of a friend. There doesn’t go a day that I don’t think of her. She is a true blessing and a hidden gem!"
Vincent M. Petrosini, MSN, RN, ACRN, FNP, NE-BC, CDP, LNHA
"I received a phone call from a previous consultant stating the nursing facility where I was employed previously had received multiple J-Tags. She wanted to know if I would be interested in returning as the D. O. N.? Well I did go in for the interview and at that time was when I met Brenda Sheppard.
We spoke and she was very honest about what was going on in the building. The building was in their survey window and they were in no means ready, I had to build a team.
Needless to say, I did accept the job offer and from that day to the day of survey, my staff, along with Brenda, worked tirelessly at providing education and tools for the building to succeed. Brenda taught us a whole new way of thinking and reacting to situations. I thought I knew everything and slowly found out that there were somethings that I needed to brush up on.
She was always available and always pushed the staff to think outside the box. She was available to provide inclusive training that focused on topics that would keep you in compliance.
Brenda left us with a sense of knowing we would be able to use the way she encouraged us to think and react to things to obtain the goal. A deficiency free survey. Upon leaving us, we had a luncheon in Brenda's honor and had t-shirts made that would remind us of Brenda's teachings.
The shirts' statement was WWBD (What Would Brenda Do)? This became a constant reminder of her teachings and guidance through the process of preparation for surveys.
She was truly an inspiration, mentor and friend."
Harry Manigault, R.N, Regional Nurse Consultant
"It has been my privilege to know and partner with Benda Sheppard for many years.
I was fortunate to hire Brenda as my Clinical partner, overseeing Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living Centers in Georgia, Virginia, Connecticut, and Florida. Upon our introduction, a bond was created that I trust and depend upon.
Center by center, Brenda was able to assess, identify opportunities, and implement “Systems and Processes” that were successful and sustaining. I recognize qualities in her that are indicative of a compassionate Servant Leader. Her strengths are embodied in her communication and time management skills, as well as her proficiency at motivating and directing others. She has also worked extensively with electronic documentation and reporting systems.
I believe that Brenda has established appropriate balance in her personal and professional life. She understands the sacrifice necessary to achieve excellence. I am confident in my recommendation of Core Systems Clinical Consulting."
Michael D. Campbell, BS, LNHA Regional Vice President of Operations
"My name is Tonja Jackson. I have been a Registered Nurse for 20 years and worked in Long Term Care for 18 years, serving 15 years as a Director of Nursing (DON) and 1 year as a Regional Director of Clinical Operations (RDCO).
I have had the great fortune of working with Mrs. Brenda Shepperd in my role as the Regional Director of Clinical Operations (RDCO). From the beginning, of starting my new role as (RDCO) we had Department of Health in our facilities on a regular basis.
Mrs. Brenda Shepperd, I will begin by saying is truly the most understanding and dynamic healthcare leader that I have worked with within my professional nursing career. Mrs. Shepperd has an excellent understanding of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) regulations and systems theory. She worked with my facilities and I on regulations and applications.
Through her understanding, we were able to move one facility off of the Special Facility Focus Program and prevent another facility from being placed on Special Focus in less than 6 months.
Brenda couples incredible experience and knowledge in Senior Living including (SNF) and Assisted Living with a passion for caring for patients and staff. She has a tremendous ability to identify root causes for the breakdown in systems and is very capable of developing and implementing plans to help improve the quality of care and regulatory compliance of senior living facilities.
She created clear goals for every department. Brenda assisted with developing strong interdisciplinary teams and helped move the organization forward, in a most rapid fashion.
With the assistance, of Brenda’s guidance and collaboration, our facilities were able to improve clinical processes, outcomes and pass many surveys including the immediate removal of an Immediate Jeopardy citing in a facility.
Brenda’s dedication and patience with us ultimately assisted the facilities with becoming regulatory-compliant.
Mrs. Brenda created the blueprint and transitioned our facilities from paper to electronic medical administration health records. This positively impacted several facilities in the multi-site region to include both Skilled and Assisted Living Facilities in many ways to include: decrease in penalties being paid, increased staff retention from staff training by increased support success through process and workflow, and higher reimbursement related to nursing documentation training.
Mrs. Shepperd means business when it comes to taking care of residents, staff, and facilities. She is friendly and approachable. She has a unique ability to teach and someone others want to listen to and follow. I could go on and on about Brenda.
I highly recommend Core Systems Clinical Consulting for all your clinical training and consulting needs."
Tonja Jackson, BSN, RN Regional Director of Clinical Operations
"I have had the pleasure of working with Brenda Sheppard for several years. Her nursing knowledge is extraordinary. She knows and fully understands state and federal guidelines and regulations to an incredible extent and because of this and her knowledge of Standards of Nursing Practices, she easily created order sets, events, observations and care plan templates in the Matrix EMR for our company that complied with these guidelines and regulations.
While training the staff on the use of the EMR, she was patient and assisted them at every step of the way until they understood how the system worked and how advantageous it was to the care of the residents. She showed nursing managers and charge nurses how to conduct a productive “stand up” (morning report) and shift to shift report utilizing and navigating the information found on the dashboard.
She visited each center weekly and/or biweekly to offer assistance and was at each building during state surveys as a supportive team member. She enthusiastically worked long hours and was relentless in completing every assignment she was given. She was readily available to the staff via email, text messages, and phone calls and always responded to their requests in a timely manner. She is at ease writing educational in-services and PowerPoint presentations.
We had an extraordinary partnership during the time we were together. She is honest, ethical and always conducts herself in a professional manner. The most admirable of Brenda’s qualities, of which she has many, is her compassion for providing excellence of care.
Residents always came first."
Anne Marie Fekete, RN Regional Director
"I embark on a new company in a medium-sized facility. I was saddened and shocked at the challenges the facility, residents, and staff experienced. They obviously lost their way. They had such a huge turnover at all levels and subsequently received multiple IJs and other significant citations, along with civil and monetary penalties.
Hence, in the month of February 2021, I made the conscious decision to join a great organization; however, the missing piece was an experienced, compassionate nursing leader. While I embarked on recruiting such a gem, I thought perhaps I should reach out to a colleague and network for a Nursing Consultant to help bring some normalcy to the nursing department and consistency in clinical practice and improved outcomes. And behold, what came across my desk was a resume of Brenda Sheppard. What an impressive resume. I knew I had to meet her. We immediately connected, and I believe that God sent me an angel.
She has all of the qualities of a professional nursing expert, kind, and genuine, compassionate, and a person with high expectations and ethical responsibilities. Her skill set compromised a system process outcome-oriented.
We connected and spoke about the current status of the facility and notably was up for the challenges. Brenda hit the ground running, leading by example, and during her short tenure, she implemented both new and improved systems, motivated everyone who she came in contact with. She worked tirelessly, providing guidance and education, and utilization of best practices and efficiencies at the bedside.
Needless to say, I made many attempts to recruit and retain Brenda in the hope that I could, but to my dismay, unfortunately, she had several other commitments and will knowingly positively impact all encounters on success.
Ms. Sheppard's insight and problem-solving, along with her critical thinking, were amazing. Her sense of humor was an added plus. She was always accessible and encouraged others to believe in system thinking and the use of evidence-based practices.
Her encouraging demeanor afforded all to embrace the momentum to achieve the goals and benchmarks set forth. She is truly an inspiration, colleague, most importantly, and proud of a friend. There doesn’t go a day that I don’t think of her. She is a true blessing and a hidden gem!"
