Retirement was too slow for Carolyn Lynch, so she decided to pursue a second career. Intensive nursing course
gives many a second
chance for workBy Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.comFormerly a manager for a utility company, Lynch, 52, is now well on her way to becoming a certified nursing assistant.
"I have always wanted to be in the nursing community," Lynch said. "I have always wanted to help people."
It takes only two intensive weeks -- 90 to 95 hours -- to complete the training at Healthcare Training & Career Consultants, Inc., then students can go on to take the Hawaii State Nurse Assistant Competency Evaluation.
Lynch said the training will also help her care for her elderly parents.
Like Lynch, many of the students in the training program are looking for a career change, but even more are trying to get off unemployment and public assistance, according to Cionie Sagisi Patricio, director of the training center. "We're trying to get them off welfare," she said.
At least 25 percent of the students for each course have been sent by welfare-to-work programs or other agencies helping get people off government assistance, Patricio said. Some agencies cover costs of the certification test. Others will pay for training, testing and even supplies, she said.
The school also offers partial and full scholarships for needy students who cannot afford the $495 tuition.
More than 2,000 students have taken courses since the school opened in 1999.
In addition to providing training to become a nursing assistant or phlebotomist, courses in other job-related skills are available, such as basic computer skills and English courses geared toward English as a second language.
Communication is an important element in providing health care, Patricio said.
"When they come here, they're so timid," she said. "But with the training, they are forced to speak. They cannot pass the course without learning how to communicate."
Patricio, 42, opened the school after spending nine years as the Director of Nursing at a Liliha nursing home. She found many of the nursing students were inadequately trained, especially in the way they treated the residents. "It's like they have no compassion," she said. "They will talk to them like they're talking to little kids."
Some, when moving patients, would reach in and lift people without warning. "They start right away without the person understanding what's going to happen," Patricio said. Sometimes this led to hospital visits for stitches and broken bones.
She started offering her own courses to make sure nurse assistants were adequately trained. But she has found the greatest reward in helping people turn their lives around by landing jobs. "Lots of students will express their gratitude that their lives have changed," she said. "There's really hope for people."
The training course is just the first step for Diana Vazquez, 23. "Since I was a little girl, I played at becoming a nurse," she said. After becoming a certified nursing assistant, she plans to continue studying to become a registered nurse.
"It's a lot of studying," Vazquez said, noting that she has not had much sleep. But since it is only two weeks, she said, "I think it's worth it to focus on this and not work on anything else."