Toni Davis motivates mothers in healthcare to keep the faith

By Sierra Porter

Women’s History Month continues to celebrate the many women making great strides to bettering the world and those in their community. Toni Davis, is the lead administrator of PruittHealth in nearby Decatur, and a mother of five children are among those many women.

Davis spends her days tending to the needs of the elderly at the 146-bed facility while overseeing her team and balancing motherhood. Davis’s day begins at 7:00 AM as she walks the halls of PruittHealth and ensures everything is in order for the patients.

“I’m a hands-on manager. It means that I want to be out seeing for myself what’s going on or addressing issues. I love on my patients, my staff and my visitors,” Davis said.

The administrator got her start in the healthcare industry as a certified nursing assistant. However, Davis admitted she initially wanted to be a physical therapist, but after crossing paths with a nurse, she decided to give the nursing field a try.

“During that time, you had to apply for nursing school and go before a panel of people to get into the program. They recommended I be a CNA first and then I went into the nursing program,” Davis said. “I’ve been in clinical care since then.”

Her 25 years in healthcare was destined due to her upbringing around the elderly. “I grew up around my grandmother and older people. I am a servant. I want them to have the best quality of life and I enjoy seeing the smiles on their faces,” Davis said.

When asked how she balances motherhood and overseeing PruittHealth, Davis responded with one word, “faith.”

“I exercise my faith because healthcare is sacrificing, and I have a wonderful support system,” Davis said. “My children love the fact that I love to work and so they’ll tell me, ‘mommy, don’t worry about us. We’re good. Go ahead and take care of those people.’”

Davis mentioned she also balances her career and family by making sure she spends times with her children and for mother’s struggling to keep up with a hectic schedule should invest in a planner.  

“I write everything in there. I have my routine that I write down everything I need to do that day, “ she said. “It may be 15 things, but if I accomplish 10 of them, then I’ll take the other five and add it on to the next day.”

Davis encourages mother’s that they shouldn’t discredit themselves if they can’t accomplish everything on their to-do list for that day. Davis said prioritizing due dates of what must get done is a way to stay on track.

Davis mentioned that healthcare could take a lot of you, but shared the significance of self-care.

“Women are natural givers. We’re natural caretakers, but you have to take a moment to replenish yourself, revive yourself so that you can have that energy to keep on going because if you give out of gas, then there’s nothing left,” Davis said. “Your children are not going to fall. The facility will not break down if you take a moment because if you don’t have self-care, you’re not going to be able to be the best you can be for the people who are depending on you,” Davis added.  

Davis hopes that she can celebrate Women’s History Month by encouraging women to stick together.

“Your struggle may not be mine, or it may be mine, but I would like to celebrate women by letting them know we need to support each other,” Davis said.

This article originally appeared in the Atlanta Voice.