Photos by Ryan Mayer courtesy of Saint Paul College
Saint Paul College , one of the largest schools in the Twin Cities , and Century College in White Bear Lake , known for its high-quality programs and degrees taught by expert instructors , kicked into high gear just before Thanksgiving .
“ We were doing 12-hour days for seven days in a row to get National Guard members up and trained so they could start working in facilities the second Monday of December ,” said Sharon Blomgren , who is the Program Manager of Workforce Training and Continuing Education at Saint Paul College . She oversees the school ’ s healthcare programs .
But the quick pace wasn ’ t over when the National Guard troops were trained . Both Saint Paul College and Century College then shifted attention to the Governor ’ s other emergency response project : training 1,000 Minnesotans to become Certified Nursing Assistants ( CNAs ).
“ We had two really big back-to-back challenges . I got word about the second one the week before Christmas ,” said Blomgren .
“ The free CNA training is what we considered Next Generation , Phase 2 ,” said Lynnette Lancor , Health Careers Program Manager at Century College . “ All the participating campuses throughout the state were opening up their classrooms and creating CNA classes for people to come in and take
Nursing Assistant training .” The courses were free for students .
“ We had well over 150 responses to the classes we offered in January and all of them were full . It has been exciting to be part of this , to know that the work you are doing is helping alleviate the pressure on the healthcare system ,” said Blomgren .
The challenge didn ’ t end there . Century College worked in tandem with the Minnesota Department of Health ( MDH ) to create supplemental training .
In addition to her work at Century College , Lancor is also Chair of the Health Training Network that represents all of the continuing education health career programs state-wide . The solution she and State Health Department officials came up with was for nursing assistants to be given the opportunity to test out of skills they had become proficient in while working , and train for other skills needed to pass the test .
“ The waivers from the Minnesota Department of Health basically say , ‘ Okay , your Director of Nursing says you can do this and this . We ’ re going to test you on that , and train you on the other skills needed to get ready for the test ,’” said Lancor , who added that Century College is one of the biggest providers of the Certified Nursing Assistant Certification Exam in the area .
This training under MDH waiver 1135 gives uncertified employees credit hours for their on-the-job nursing assistant training .
In addition to the programs created to quickly get nursing assistants trained , Century College also offers training for Phlebotomists , Pharmacy Technicians , Medication Aides , Health Unit Coordinating and Medical Front Office Training . “ Oftentimes when you look at people trying to get into the healthcare field , not everyone is going to be interested in hands-on patient care . These other areas make it possible for someone to get into healthcare where they can work in the areas of customer service , insurance billing , that sort of thing ,” said Lancor .
Saint Paul College also has extensive offerings for students interested in healthcare education . On the non-credit side , students can come in and take classes that train them to become a Certified Nursing Assistant ( CNA ), or Trained Medication Aide ( TMA ). There are also classes in CPR , First Aide and Basic Life Support ( BLS ).
On the credit side , Blomgren identified the most popular programs as : Nursing Assistant , Pharmacy , Phlebotomy , Practical Nursing ( LPN ), and Respiratory Therapy . Saint Paul College ’ s Sterile Processing program , which prepares students to work in medical facilities that prepare surgical instruments ,
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