Editor’s Note: McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care are profiling the McKnight’s 2024 Women of Distinction honorees daily from July 1 to Aug. 13. For additional McKnight’s Women of Distinction content, visit this page.

Amanda “Mandy” Tilton has been a fixture in the skilled nursing industry for more than 20 years and a role model to all who work with her. 

Her work ethic and drive led to a string of promotions at kidney care provider DaVita, starting off as a patient care technician and finishing as a chief nursing officer. Although she may not be at DaVita anymore, she still takes an active interest in kidney health as a member of the board of directors for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. 

Today, she is the chief nursing officer at BAYADA Home Health Care, and her effect on the organization cannot be overstated. She was the recipient of a BAYADA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion Award in 2023 and works to improve communication between administrators and clinicians through implementation of collaborative roundtables, a clinical advisory board and a half-day “renewal retreat” sessions to combat employee burnout. 

Tilton also has produced multiple publications throughout her career, most recently about communication, workplace safety, adaptive sports and holistic nursing care. 

“Mandy sets the standard for prioritizing clients and providing exceptionally supportive leadership for clinicians. She inspires others to do their best work simply by being a supportive and available leader whose passion for her work emanates through everything she does,” her nominators said. “Nursing is one of the toughest, most demanding careers there is, and it can be even more challenging for caregivers working in the home. Mandy consistently makes BAYADA nurses feel seen, heard and understood, enabling an even better care experience for our clients.”

More about Tilton: 

  • Tilton is the daughter of a nurse, and her own daughter is a nursing student. 
  • She delivered the commencement speech at Kishwaukee College’s RN graduation in 2016. Before that, she delivered the commencement speech as an alumna at Lewis University’s MSN pinning ceremony in 2014.
  • She has run the Chicago Marathon four times to raise funds for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois (2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023). 

The McKnight’s Women of Distinction program is jointly administered by McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, McKnight’s Senior Living and McKnight’s Home Care. Healthcare Services Group was the Platinum sponsor of this year’s McKnight’s Women of Distinction Awards and Forum. PointClickCare was the Gold sponsor, and PharMerica was the Silver sponsor. Other sponsors included Curana Health, DirecTV for Business, Easyshifts, Hireology, Reliant Rehabilitation, ShiftKey and Sentrics.

Visit this web page to see lists of honorees from 2024 and previous years.