Essentia Health Collaborates with Community Partners on Nursing Assistant Course for High School Students
Ada, MN — A new nursing assistant course is being offered to area high school students thanks to a partnership between Essentia Health, Ada-Borup-West High School, Benedictine Living Community-Ada and Halstad Living Center.
Ten students in grades 10-12 will complete the semester-long course on Jan. 20, receiving credit toward graduation. They will also be eligible to take a test to become certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in Minnesota.
“At this time, it sounds like seven or eight are excited to take this step and move forward in some capacity, whether that’s pursing part-time work or even a summer job in the future,” said Josh Carlson, Ada-Borup-West principal. “For some, this will be a steppingstone to something more medical, but it’s a foot in the door for all of them, which is an awesome opportunity.”
One of those students is senior Tristan Triplett. When asked about his experience, Triplett expressed excitement about the hands-on work offered by the labs and clinicals.
“I would highly recommend this course for any student that has interest in a career in the medical field,” said Triplett. “It provides a strong base for future course offerings. This class has provided me with an opportunity to gain a job that I can enjoy and rely on throughout post-secondary schooling. While I’m not pursing a degree in the medical field currently, I believe this training will allow me to find employment nearly anywhere in the country.”
Essentia Health hospitals complete a community health care needs assessment (CHNA) every three years. This process results in an extensive report that reflects on the work of the previous assessment and identifies new priority community health needs.
During the spring of 2022, Essentia Health-Ada’s CHNA committee identified mental well-being and workforce development as its priority needs. Ada-Borup-West approached the committee with the idea of partnering to provide student training. Initiating this class was a step toward that workforce-development goal.
“Having partnered with our local nursing homes in a lot of different ways in the past, and knowing that they are short on CNAs, I knew I could maybe be that connection point for them and the high school,” said Erin Stoltman, administrator at Essentia-Health Ada. “Our facility also has adequate lab space for this type of program. At this time, we do not employ certified nursing assistants, but our nursing homes can and there’s a definite need for more staffing support.”
Stoltman served as the primary facilitator, bringing all the community partners together for a series of planning meetings. While individual students have pursued online CNA training in the past, this is the first time the training, including in-person lab and clinical hours, is being offered in this collaborative format.
“We surveyed our students to gauge interest and we were fortunate to have 10 sign up,” said Carlson. “In talking to both nursing facilities, they were very pleased to hear that it was such a high number.”
Beginning in September, students met in a classroom setting to complete the 70-plus-hour online course offered through Benedictine Living Community-Ada and Halstad Living Center. The course is a standardized training certified by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
Assessments were conducted throughout the course to ensure core skills were being met. Following the online portion, students in January advanced to two labs hosted at Essentia Health-Ada and taught by MDH-certified staff from the two care homes.
Students will finish the course by participating in a weekend of clinicals at both living centers, where they experience a mix of in-the-field observation and basic hands-on scenarios.
“We hope to encourage these kids to go into health care, and make a career in the field, whether at the CNA level or beyond,” said Stoltman, who started her own career as a CNA. “It’s great to have four different community organizations coming together to offer something to our youth. This is a great opportunity for kids to figure out what they want to do, and hopefully create that local pipeline of kids interested in health care.”
The goal is to offer this course again now that the framework is in place.
“We are opening up those pathways for the kids, which I think is a tremendous thing we are able to do with these partnerships,” added Carlson. “We are very thankful for the relationships we’ve been able to build with Essentia, Benedictine and Halstad. This is an awesome service that we can give back to the community.”