Our life’s calling is often connected by the seeds planted in our youth. Experiences we face and people we meet help guide our career choices as we enter our adult years. For Symira Waters, BSN, RN, helping care for her beloved grandmother as a teenager ignited a passion for helping others and a cherished career at Homeland Center and Homeland at Home.
Symira attended Central Dauphin East High School where she excelled in her classes. During this time, her grandmother’s health was failing and she moved in with Symira and her family. Symira immediately stepped up to help support her grandmother’s needs as a caretaker. The experience inspired her to one day become a nurse.
“My grades were always great and I loved caring for others,” Symira says. “I had a chance to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and jumped at the opportunity.”
In 2010, Symira joined the Homeland staff where she provided skilled nursing care. Homeland Center is a five-star licensed not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community offering exceptional personal care, skilled nursing care, specialized memory care and short-term rehabilitation.
Soon after joining Homeland, Symira attempted to earn her nursing degree and found she wasn’t ready at that stage in her life. Over the next seven years, she advanced in her work to become a medication tech which allowed her to administer oral medications with the supervision of a licensed practical nurse. Symira next transitioned to provide personal care to Homeland residents which helped her broaden her skills and knowledge.
“I knew I was on the right path after I became a medication tech,” Symira adds. “I was finally ready to become a nurse.”
Symira began working toward her nursing degree in 2018. She traveled to Lancaster daily for her classes and worked weekends at Homeland Center. Her years with Homeland provided experiences in multiple disciplines which reaffirmed her dedication to her career and instilled the confidence she needed to earn her degree.
“My Homeland family watched me grow up,” Symira says. “Everyone was encouraging and cheering me on with my studies.”
As a first-generation college graduate, earning her degree was a point of great accomplishment and pride for both Symira and her family. The long hours, travel and late nights of studying paid off. After graduation, Symira found herself at a crossroads, wanting to spread her wings and serve her community in new and different ways. She left Homeland Center to work in an emergency room setting. While she valued the experience, she found herself missing the long-term connections with patients and families, which can’t be found in a busy hospital setting. In May of 2025, Symira returned to Homeland working in the HomeHealth setting, which provides physician-ordered medical treatment in a patient’s home.
As a nurse with Homeland HomeHealth, Symira provides wound care, cardiac care, administers medications and supports patients to help them reach their goals as they navigate their rehabilitation following a hospital stay.
As Symira looks back on her medical career, she believes she is just finding her stride and knows the adage of “right place and right time” means Homeland, which has grown to feel like home. She loves being part of a team dedicated to the unique care of each patient. The support she receives from patients and fellow staff members help make the career of a lifetime even better.
“This work is why I became a nurse,” Symira says. “I love this work.”
