Running A Healthy Nonprofit
Elaine Fluet
Title: CEO
Company: Gardner Visiting Nursing Association
Location: Gardner
As the CEO of the nonprofit Gardner Visiting Nursing Association, Elaine Fluet oversees a team of 150 people who help serve the health-care needs of 24 communities in North Worcester County and Franklin County. Fluet joined the Gardner VNA in 1985 and steadily rose through the organization until being named CEO in 2004.
Who is your most influential role model, and why?
My mother is my role model. As a graduate of a three-year registered nursing program, she went on to get her bachelor’s degree and eventually became a nurse practitioner while raising a family and working. As a nurse practitioner she chose to work in a clinic setting serving the disenfranchised. She worked in a caring, challenging profession, yet balanced it with a family life.
To me, pursuing a career in nursing always felt like the right calling and I have never questioned taking that path. Like my mother, I too completed my advanced degree while raising my children and working full time.
Why are you good at what you do?
I think it’s the passion and love of what I do at the Gardner VNA that is a winning combination. The team at the Gardner VNA provides support for individuals and families through in-home or adult day programs. I’m energized to help clinicians accomplish their work while assuring the success of the agency.
I am also a caring person. When you care about what you do, you see it to the end. I expect good outcomes and have been very fortunate to surround myself with a wonderful group of skilled managers and staff.
How does your organization give back to the community, and what role have you played in those efforts?
The board of directors and I encourage and support staff to be engaged in our community.
The staff and I are involved in many community initiatives, coalitions and organizations. Just to name a few, we participate in the United Way of North Central Mass., the Joint Coalition on Health and advisory boards for nursing programs at Montachusett Regional Vocational High School and Mount Wachusett Community College. I am a member of the Gardner Rotary Club and serve on the board of directors at the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce and the Gardner Community Action Community.
As a staff, we also support several groups through fundraising. For example, we recently raised more than $1,000 to support Battered Women’s Resources.
We also put together the Annual Symposium for Well-Being, where we bring in highly regarded experts on an aspect of wellness to present in North Central Mass.
When the stress level gets too high, what’s your secret remedy?
When things get a bit tense, the most useful, immediate tool is often humor. My other stress reduction tools include prayer, reiki and meditation. I have been blessed with three grandchildren within the last three years and time spent with them is fun and so distracting!
How have you tried to balance your career and your personal life?
My parents set the example of my priorities — God, family and work. The balancing act was established early on since I grew up in a household where my mother managed the balance of family, work, volunteering, etc.
I am fortunate to be married to my supportive husband, Donald, for 36 years. He attends functions and provides me with expertise and support. As a parent of two children, Jennifer and Nicholas, I have tried to be involved in all their activities while instilling a strong work ethic.
When my daughter Jennifer was school age, she and her friends would come to work with me at Adult Day Health Care in Gardner. The elders enjoyed the interaction and the girls would assist staff as volunteers. It was a wonderful learning opportunity for my daughter and her friends that is replicated at the adult day health centers today.
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