Certified Nursing Assistant Program Launches in 2025

When Journee Hanks and Mylie Slack start their final year at Sugar-Salem High School, they’ll be among the first students to enroll in the school’s new health professions career technical education (CTE) program. The seniors-to-be will be taking the Certified Nursing Assistant program in a new state-of-the-art CTE building on campus.

“I think our school is pretty lucky to have this,” Slack said.

The Certified Nursing Assistant program allows students to earn their certification, which can lead directly to employment or serve as a stepping stone to other healthcare careers that are desperately needed in our state. Idaho is a so-called healthcare desert because the state doesn’t have enough healthcare providers, including primary care doctors, specialists, nurses, and more.

“I’m so excited that we are going to have this at school,” Hanks said. “I’ve heard other people have had to go to different places to do this. There are a lot of people in school who want to go into the medical field, and so many want to become nurses.”

Health professions CTE programs are one way to increase the number of healthcare workers in the state. The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health has awarded grant funding to 31 schools to launch or expand health professions CTE programs, including Sugar-Salem. The grant to the district paid for equipment and materials needed for the class.

The 31 grants were made possible through a $6 million gift to the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

NEW FACILITY

Sugar-Salem received a $2.7 million grant from the Idaho Career Ready Student program that funded the new 18,000-square-foot CTE building that includes classrooms and labs. In addition to the CNA program, the school is adding auto technician program and will continue to offer its welding program.

“We want to provide more opportunities for students to find careers and jobs after they finish high school,” said Tyler Richins, the CTE director at the school. “CTE fields are in high demand and offer good-paying jobs that don’t require four years of schooling. There are a lot of kids who don’t find value in traditional college. We have an obligation to help provide opportunities for these kids and to help them learn and find jobs and careers.”

Sugar-Salem’s CNA program is built on local partnerships. Madisonhealth is providing the instructor to teach the course, and the program will be using the College of Eastern Idaho’s accredited curriculum. Mountain View Hospital in Idaho Falls is helping organize the clinical experiences and certifying the hours needed to earn the certification.

The CNA program is demanding. Richins said the school held an orientation meeting for prospective students and parents to outline the expectations and requirements. To obtain certification, students must undergo background checks, be up to date on immunizations, and attend classes to reach the required number of hours.

Robyn Robison is the college and career counselor at Sugar-Salem High. She remembers getting her CNA certification during high school. For her, it set the table for earning a Health Sciences degree at BYU-Idaho.

“Certified Nursing Assistant is a gateway program to many career paths,” she said. “I still use mitered (hospital) corners when I make beds, and that’s something I learned in my CNA class. It’s really a useful certification for students.”

Slack and Hanks haven’t fully decided what health professions they will pursue after high school. Hanks, whose father is an anesthesiologist, is thinking about radiology. Slack is happy to have this opportunity, pointing out that “we don’t have to pay that much.”

CTE courses at Sugar-Salem are “inexpensive or free,” Richins said.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP

Doug McBride is the executive director for business development at Madisonhealth. He said his organization recognizes the important role that health professions CTE can have in a community, which is why it’s supporting the program by providing and paying for the instructor.

“We try to promote and help young students in any way possible,” McBride said. “It’s been such a great experience working with them to turn the process into healthcare with opportunities for students. We want to enhance students who want to get into the healthcare community. There is such a great need.”

Sugar-Salem’s program will have 10 students in the fall trimester, and the school expects 10 students in the winter and spring trimesters, too. Richins said the school will consider adding other health professions CTE programs in the future, possibly emergency medical technician.

“We want to set them up for success,” he said.

Construction crews are working to finish the work on the new CTE building. Richins said the goal is for it to be finished by the second week of August. Once the certificate of occupancy is approved, the school will begin adding supplies, resources, and furniture into the facility.