Eastern Plumas Health Care will begin a new in-house training program for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) on December 3, 2019. This pilot program is the brainchild of Deborah Mancebo, Director of Staff Development for EPHC\u2019s two skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Recruiting and retaining enough qualified CNAs is an ongoing problem for rural and remote hospital like EPHC, so this program offers the perfect antidote.<\/p>\n
Because the need was so great, Mancebo contacted California\u2019s Department of Public Health and worked with them to create a program for EPHC that fits their guidelines. She will also be teaching the course.<\/p>\n
Training as a CNA is a great starting point for a lifelong career, as Deborah herself can attest. \u201cI\u2019m a model of, \u2018This is what you can do with your life,\u2019\u201d said Mancebo. She moved back to Plumas County to \u201cstart over,\u201d first becoming a CNA, then receiving her Social Services Designee certification. After that, she became a Certified Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), and finally, she received her certification to teach and became a Director of Staff Development. She has encouraged EPHC employees who are interested in a career with the \u201cpossibility of numerous roads to advancement\u201d to apply for the course.<\/p>\n
This first time out, she\u2019ll be taking eight students, and they\u2019ll be a mix of five staff and three community members. Mancebo said she limited the number from each internal department so she \u201cdidn\u2019t drain the departments.\u201d This is a \u201cfast track\u201d program – six weeks long, five days per week. It\u2019s \u201cpretty strict,\u201d said Mancebo. Students will be allowed one absence, and three tardies is equal to one absence. This \u201clets us know who will be committed,\u201d added Mancebo.<\/p>\n
The benefits are many. All of the students get paid to go to school. EPHC staff members are guaranteed their previous jobs back if the program doesn\u2019t prove to be a good fit. As soon as students get certified, they\u2019ll get hired full time and they\u2019ll receive a pay increase. Further, every student will be provided with books, a watch, a stethoscope, three uniforms, and some money towards the purchase of shoes.<\/p>\n
In addition, Mancebo has received a $10,000 Kickstart Grant. The grant follows five students\u2019 grades and achievement throughout the course. It will pay for their schooling and their wages, as well as their certification testing. And, when they complete a year of employment at EPHC, they\u2019ll each receive a bonus.<\/p>\n
Mancebo is proud of her pilot program. She had to write all modules of the course \u2013 both theory and clinical. The theory portion will be taught in a classroom environment, and the clinical portion will be \u201chands on\u201d in EPHC\u2019s skilled nursing unit in Portola.<\/p>\n
Mancebo is enthusiastic, both because she loves teaching (she teaches continuing education and orientation for all new hires at both SNFs), and because she is passionate about her chosen career path. \u201cIt\u2019s an endless possibility once you get your CNA \u2013 it is almost unbelievable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That said, she is looking for someone who is truly invested in this career; this work requires dedication. Recruits are expected to be available to work at either the Portola or Loyalton location, and \u201cthey know it snows,\u201d she said. Also, they might have to work either a day or night shift. According to Mancebo, \u201cwhen you get employed in this realm, your middle name becomes flex. I want the hungry ones who are flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with dedication, this work requires compassion. \u201cIt\u2019s rewarding and emotionally draining,\u201d said Mancebo. \u201cYou fall in love with them [residents] like they\u2019re your grandfather or grandmother. You have to have that compassion, or it\u2019s not for you. All in all, our staff will volunteer and sit with people on their time off who don\u2019t have family. That\u2019s compassion \u2013 that\u2019s the person we want working for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mancebo said she had seventeen people apply for this first course, and she did very little advertising. The next time around, she wants to make sure the general public is aware of this opportunity. She suggested to people who are looking for a job and are thinking about a career in skilled nursing to \u201ccome and work for us,\u201d in any capacity. And, while they\u2019re working they can come to the skilled nursing unit, \u201csee the CNAs, get a feel for it, and ask themselves, \u2018Can I do this job? Do I want to do this job?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information about the new CNA course, please call Deborah Mancebo at 530.832.6674<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Eastern Plumas Health Care will begin a new in-house training program for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) on December 3, 2019. This pilot program is the brainchild of Deborah Mancebo, Director of Staff Development for EPHC\u2019s two skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Recruiting and retaining enough qualified CNAs is an ongoing problem for rural and remote hospital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions\/435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ephc.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}