More than 70 people have become certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at Northeast Florida State Hospital in Macclenny, Florida thanks to training funding provided through CareerSource Northeast Florida (CareerSource NEFL).
The 600-plus bed hospital has provided continuous service to persons with severe and persistent mental illness since 1959 – one of three state-owned facilities providing inpatient psychiatric care and treatment to individuals in Florida.
“With CareerSource Northeast Florida partnering with us, we’ve been able to help quite a few people obtain their CNAs since we partnered with their customized training program two years ago,” said John Gainey, the hospital’s senior registered nurse supervisor who oversees nursing education. “We know this type of career development is important.”
Sonya Speights, CareerSource NEFL Director of Training and Career Pathways, says customized training is designed to meet the unique training needs of an employer or group of employers.
“It’s truly employer-driven, where the employer decides who will provide the training, what program of study will be used, and which employees will be trained,” Speights said. “Employees benefit by learning new skills and retaining employment after successful training completion. Customized training is a win-win for both employer and employee.”
Customized training is offered to employers such as Northeast Florida State Hospital to meet specific training needs of existing employees as it relates to the introduction of new technologies, new production or service procedures, workplace literacy, or helping employees upgrade to new jobs that require additional skills.
At the hospital, each CNA participant completes a 120-hour program that’s completed in about eight weeks. The program includes 80 hours of classroom-led instruction followed by a minimum of 40 hours of clinicals and a skills lab.
“We have a skills lab here where they start with the basics like proper hand washing then on to providing bed baths, foot care and hand and nail care,” Gainey said. “There are a total of 24 skills in the check-off to complete the program. We try to do four classes a year with 12 people per class…and we did two additional classes last year thanks to the customized training funds we received. We’ve completed eight classes so far and are in our ninth class now. We’re very appreciative of what CareerSource NEFL has done in offering this assistance for us.”
After hospital employees receive their licenses, having a CNA certification allows them to move up at the hospital with a pay increase – and gives them the opportunity to work directly with patients at nursing homes and hospitals.
Janna Dixon, records technician at the hospital, received her CNA certification through the program – and Cheyanna Fussell also completed the CNA program and went into training for an LPN license.
With the shortage of nurses in Florida, and healthcare professionals in general, customized training can help employers like Northeast Florida State Hospital become a pipeline to help more people attain the necessary certifications to fill the void.