Eleven Unaka High School seniors celebrated their success as the charter class in Nursing Education to complete 40 hours of clinical practice in a partnership with Pine Ridge Care and Rehabilitation Center.
“Their professionalism and compassion are much appreciated,” said CEO Debbie Street. “That’s what it’s all about, and the residents loved having young people here.”
Students said the opportunity to work in a local facility serving real needs and practicing the procedures they learned in class made them feel much more prepared to enter the workforce.
“We’ve practiced on dummies in class, but working with real people is different,” said Danielle Combs. “You can’t learn everything without practicing it.”
Instructor and registered nurse Kayla Clawson said that at the end of the Nursing Education course, students are fully prepared to take their licensing exam to become Certified Nurses Assistants, and that nine of her 11 students are planning to get certified.
Students said the clinical practice gave them much more confidence and more clinical hours than most people have when working towards a CNA license.
Hannah Tipton said they have already completed over 1,000 practice questions for the exam and through test preparations and field experience at Pine Ridge, she feels the exam will be much easier.
“I also learned that you really have to love your job and caring for people to be a CNA,” said Tipton.
Students agreed that the CNAs that they shadowed were extremely helpful and patient.
“This taught us about being courteous, showing respect and honoring people’s privacy,” said Hall.
They visited Pine Ridge daily during two class periods and practiced everything including brushing residents’ teeth, helping them shave, getting them dressed, helping them walk and changing clothes. They also had exposure to various types of therapy including physical, occupational, speech and restorative, as well as learning about wound care.
Overall, students said they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
“I would definitely recommend this course to people that are seriously interested in entering the medical field, but I would advise that people not take it if they are squeamish or really emotionally sensitive,” said Hall.
The next semester in which students may register for Nursing Education will be Fall 2016. Pine Ridge Director of Nursing Shon Blevins said they will be happy to host another group in the clinical program and that she would absolutely consider hiring them in the future.
“The program went wonderfully; the students were very involved, excited and willing to learn,” she said.