AUBURN - Ella Pearl Testa has been recognized as the Certified Nursing Assistant of the Year for her caring relationship with the residents at the Auburn Nursing Home.

The honor itself is a feat in her field, but one fact about Testa makes it even more outstanding: She's older than many of those residents.

Although time has slowed down others her age, Testa, 87, continues to spend more than 40 hours a week walking with the men and women in her care, helping them through each day and growing closer to them all.

“She's like that Energizer rabbit, from the time she places her feet on the floor in the morning to the end of the day, she's always cheering someone up,” said resident Elizabeth Ruth Chamberlain, who nominated Testa for the award.

As she clutched Testa's hand, Chamberlain added, “She comforts me when I need it. She's like a sister to me.”

Chamberlain's words were all the convincing the New York State Health Facilities Association needed to name Testa the CNA of the Year. The organization didn't actually learn of her age until they let Testa know she won the award, which they will present to her Tuesday in the form of a plaque and $250.

She is honored by the recognition. But brightening up the lives of her residents is the only reward for which Testa strives for each moment she spends at their sides.

“If I can get a smile out of one of them when I walk into their rooms, it's worth everything,” she said. “It's a pleasure to take care of them.”

Even when Testa is tired by her efforts at Auburn Nursing Home, her selflessness endures. With delight she will tenderly take the hands of residents like Chamberlain and discuss their families, the hardships of aging or any topic on their minds.

Testa is often called upon to give comfort to residents in their final hours as well.

“She's one of the most compassionate and caring people in this profession that I've ever met,” said Auburn Nursing Home administrator Lorie Mellini.

Testa's relationships with the people in her care is not confined to her shifts. On a recent day off, she accompanied a resident to Crouse Hospital in Syracuse and offered to stay with the woman overnight because her family had yet to arrive. Mellini asked Testa to return to Auburn, which she reluctantly did.

“She said if that ever happens again, she'll stay with them overnight,” Mellini said. “She felt terrible leaving her alone.”

Testa's importance to the residents of the home is rivaled by her importance to the staff. She feels her fellow nursing assistants are just as deserving of the award, but their debt to her as a role model is one more reason that Testa received it instead.

“She can work circles around me,” said nursing assistant Jodi Longworthy.

Her seniority at the Auburn Nursing Home is not just a result of her age. Testa has been helping its residents since the home was built 36 years ago.

“It's the best nursing home in the city; everyone is really caring from the administration to the maintenance staff,” Testa said.

Although she has cared for countless residents in her time at the home, Testa's fondest memory is an instance of her finding help from someone else.

When Testa told late administrator Monica Moochler about a lump in her breast, Moochler urged her to head to the hospital. The malignant growth was removed, but Testa learned that the consequences of waiting a few weeks to see a doctor - as she intended to do before talking to Moochler - could have been grave.

Testa started nursing training in 1942, when she enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps in San Antonio. Her husband, Auburn native Milton Testa, was serving in the Army Medical Corps in the Pacific Theater at the time. She spent those three years separated from him treating casualties of war at hospitals in Georgia and Florida.

“The service taught me everything I know,” Testa said.

Her first patients were often amputees. She also worked in the maternity ward for soldiers' wives. She was set to join her husband overseas when the war ended and they relocated to his home of Auburn.

Testa spent the next few years away from nursing while she gave birth to their four children. As she readied herself to return to care-giving, she saw an advertisement in the newspaper asking for a nurse to assist Hermonia Allen, William Seward's great-granddaughter.

For the next 10 years Testa tended to Allen at her home. When she left to take a job at the new Auburn Nursing Home, Testa helped to start a long tradition of care and comfort at the facility. And she doesn't intend to finish in the near future.

“I'm going to keep going as long as I can work,” she said.

Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net