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The Believe to Achieve program, which started Jan. 5, is a joint effort by Southeast Missouri Hospital, Cape Girardeau School District and MERS/Goodwill. The nine-week training program matches 11 at-risk high-school-age students with a nurse's aide to explore health-care careers.
Four participants are from MERS/Goodwill, two are from Cape Girardeau Central High School and six are from the Cape Girardeau Alternative Education Center. MERS/Goodwill and the Cape Girardeau School District screen the students before they can participate in the initiative.
Once the students complete the program, they will have most of the hours required for CNA certification and may be given an opportunity to interview for a nurse assistant position at Southeast Missouri Hospital.
The program was made possible through a $31,338 grant from the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, or WIRED, Initiative. WIRED is a U.S. Department of Labor initiative designed to improve regional economic development by addressing workforce needs and issues. The hospital foundation wrote the grant.
"We're getting a lot of feedback from the students, and they keep telling me they're having a good time," said Easy Stilson, nurse residency program manager and nurse recruiter at Southeast Missouri Hospital. "We're building self-esteem and confidence in the students. Those qualities will help them no matter where they work and are employed."
"We're hoping to coach them to success not just in the work force but in life."
Darin Stageberg, transition coordinator for Cape Girardeau School District, has seen a difference in the program participants he interacts with at the Cape Girardeau Alternative Education Center.
"They take a lot of pride in the program and are enjoying learning about the profession," Stageberg said. "My hope is our students in the program enter the medical profession.
"The worst-case scenario is that they get meaningful work skills and will be more prepared for the work force," he said. "So it's a win-win situation."
Dr. Karen Hendrickson, Southeast Missouri Hospital vice president and chief nursing officer, hopes the program will inspire some students to consider nursing as a career choice.
"We are hoping they find a niche in health care and hopefully nursing," Hendrickson said. "By collaborating with the Cape Girardeau schools and MERS/Goodwill, we hope to generate more interest from individuals about the health-care industry. They'll learn the very basic patient care skills and the tools to succeed not only in the classroom but in the work setting."
She said the initiative is a larger effort on the part of the hospital to recruit young people to fill future health-care positions.
The hospital offers a camp for high school students interested in the nursing profession from June 7 to 11, a camp for male high-school students from July 26 to 29 and year-round residency program for graduates needing additional clinical experience or skills. For more information about the camps, call 331-6322.
Hendrickson said the profession is expected to have a shortfall of 250,000 nurses by 2010 and 800,000 by 2020. Southeast Missouri Hospital has 600 nurses on staff.
"Southeast Missouri Hospital is not suffering a nursing shortage," she said. "To not be concerned about that in the future would be short-sighted. We try to have initiatives like this to battle this.
"We have an aging work force, so the group of nurse educators is significantly aging," she said. "So when those nurses begin to retire and the demands by the baby boomers increase, this will converge into a significant problem if we don't stay out ahead of that."
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Maybe if the hospitals including Southeat and St Francis would give up some of the millions they are making and pay nurses a decent wage, there wouldn't be a shortage. Get real, are we that desperate to make a buck, that we have to try and lure "at risk" students to be nurses? Aren't these students that don't want to be in school? Think this will teach them to show up for a job that was "given" to them, instead of being hired on qualifications? I am sure there are plenty of people that would be willing to accept these jobs that want them, if someone GAVE them the education and then the job with a decent wage!
Going to have to agree with the last comment here. I would not want my care and treatment in the hands of an at-risk person who was reluctant to go to college in the first place.
Just like with teachers--make the job pay more, and more people will flock to become that profession. Want to have quality teachers and nurses? Pay them more. Many students (not all) in the college system make career decisions based on paychecks--they have to pay those loans off somehow after-all.
I think you're both confused about the term "at-risk." Most of these "at-risk" students are economically challenged, not attitude challenged, not intelligence challenged.
This is a great thing! Do you want to put them to work? Or do you want to pay for their public aid? Make up your minds!
"At-risk" students are not "bad" students. They are students that have life situations, many beyond their control, that make it difficult for them to succeed without some extra TLC. It would have been helpful if the article explained the program's definition of at risk, and showed that these students are worth the investment of time and money by sharing their stories and accomplishments.