Opening doors for healthcare careers with the Nurse Aide Training Program

Out of central Minnesota’s top five in-demand careers, three are in healthcare, with nursing in the top spot. Almost every healthcare provider in the area needs more qualified nursing staff. But even though healthcare is consistently a top career choice for high school graduates, financial and logistical barriers make it hard to connect that interest with opportunities.

Four school districts in central Minnesota are looking to change that.

Brainerd, Crosby-Ironton, Pequot Lakes, and Pillager school districts have partnered with Sourcewell to launch the Nurse Aide Training Program, which will give their high school students far greater access to nurse aide training and certification. “We’re excited to announce that our first cohort, made up of ten students from the area, has finished the course,” says Maggie Velasco, director of career and college readiness at Sourcewell. “Once they pass state certification through Central Lakes College, they can start work as certified nursing assistants immediately.”

“These participants want to be in nursing, and this district-led program removes many of their barriers to entry,” Velasco says, citing the obstacles that often separate potential healthcare workers from the training they need. “Students get to tackle hands-on patient care in a safe, convenient, and supportive environment. Before they’ve even graduated high school, they already have this experience under their belt.”

That focus on earlier career exploration is more important now than ever before, according to Brianna Erickson, who is part of Sourcewell’s Career Pathways Program team that has helped develop and deploy this training. “Courses like the Nursing Aide Training Program engage students in their career choices before they’ve left high school,” Brianna says. “In the past, students could wait until college to ‘figure things out’. That’s not feasible anymore for most people. We want to open as many doors as possible right now, while students still have the guidance and support structure to make the most of their experience.”

In fact, the Nurse Aide Training Program opens plenty of occupational doors on its own: It can be the first step for numerous careers in healthcare. Anyone who wants to work in patient care, whether as a nurse aide, a doctor, an LPN, an RN, or another role, can benefit from hands-on experience. Patient care hours are an especially foundational requirement of many healthcare careers and degrees, so participating students will find yet another career obstacle easier to overcome.

Programs like this can make a massive difference in the region for both prospective workers and the providers looking for them, and the team is eager to expand the program’s involvement to other school districts and beyond, to make the most out of all the hard work that’s gone into development. “The Career Pathways Program team at Sourcewell has done an outstanding amount of work to make this program happen,” says Velasco, referencing Brianna Erickson and her colleagues, Amy Sjoblad, Maria Ervasti, and Toni Hidalgo. “We couldn’t have done it without these four women. In fact, Amy Sjoblad wrote the grant that was ultimately awarded funding.”

“I’d also like to thank our course instructor, Susan Mathison-Young from Advanced Care at Home, LLC; the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, the grant provider; and Good Samaritan Society assisted living center, which has been hosting the program at GSS - Bethany,” says Velasco. “They had an empty care bay that they haven’t had the staff to fill, so they’re letting us use it to train future staff in the meantime.”

“We hope this program is so successful that they soon need it back!”

Registration is now open for the Fall 2024 cohort of the Nurse Aide Training Program. Eligible participants must be high school students in Brainerd, Crosby-Ironton, Pequot Lakes, or Pillager school districts.

If you have questions about student participation, logistics, or bringing a similar training to your own school district, please contact Maggie Velasco for further information.