When families choose home care, they are trusting a caregiver with what matters most: the safety, comfort, and dignity of someone they love. At Excel Nursing Services, President and CEO Rebecca Paquette believes that trust is earned long before a caregiver ever walks through a client’s front door. It starts with rigorous, hands‑on training and continues with ongoing education that keeps skills sharp and care standards high.
For more than 20 years, Excel Nursing Services has served Western and Central Massachusetts with RN, LPN, CNA, HHA, and therapy services in homes and facilities. The agency highlights “industry standard‑setting training for all caregivers” as one of the core reasons families feel safe choosing Excel. Every caregiver is supervised by a Registered Nurse, and care plans are developed and updated by RNs to ensure each client’s needs—physical, emotional, and social—are met.
That commitment to training is reinforced through Excel Training Institute, a sister organization whose mission is to “provide exceptional training to individuals who seek a career in the healthcare field.” The Institute offers a 75‑hour Nurse Aide/Home Health Aide hybrid program that combines online study, skills lab practice, and supervised clinical rotations. Graduates qualify to sit for the Massachusetts State Competency Test to become Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and receive a Certificate of Completion for Home Health Aide training.
Training at Excel is not reserved only for those already employed. Individuals who are curious about caregiving or looking for a fresh start in healthcare can enroll, gain state‑approved skills, and then pursue employment with Excel Nursing Services or other providers. Many students use the Nurse Aide/Home Health Aide course as a launching pad for long‑term careers in healthcare, moving on to roles such as Registered Nurse, Medical Assistant, or Physician Assistant, or into specialties in home care and home health.
Once students complete training, Rebecca and her leadership team actively look for ways to bring them into the Excel organization. As staffing needs arise, graduates may step into roles as CNAs, HHAs, or other direct‑care positions in home care and home health. As they gain experience and expand their skills, Excel promotes from within—rewarding strong performance with more responsibility, schedule flexibility, and leadership opportunities in both field and facility‑based settings.
For families, this investment in training shows up in very practical ways. Caregivers understand safe transfers and fall‑prevention strategies, know how to manage medications accurately, and can support clients with daily exercise, nutrition, and disease‑specific care plans—everything from dementia and Parkinson’s to post‑stroke recovery. Because their training emphasizes communication and compassion, caregivers also bring meaningful companionship and emotional support into the home.
Through Rebecca’s dual focus on education and employment, Excel Nursing Services has created a powerful loop: world‑class training generates confident, skilled caregivers; those caregivers deliver exceptional care; and the most committed students are invited into long‑term roles where they can keep growing their careers. It is a model that benefits clients, families, staff, and the wider healthcare community.
