The pre-med program has teamed up with the Hillsdale Community Health Center to expand the volunteer opportunities available to students who are seeking Certified Nursing Assistant certification in what is called the Patient Care Coordinator Program.
Dean of Women Diane Philipp, a member of the hospital board, noticed a deficiency in the diversity of volunteer opportunities and decided to fix the problem by expanding the options available to pre-med program students who are seeking CNA certification.
“Dean Philipp noticed the need for students to have experience and for the hospital to have strong communicators and patient care advocates, so she brought the two together in the Patient Care Program,” GOAL leader junior Elisabeth Wynia, who helped to coordinate the logistics of the new program, said. “We agreed that the hospital would provide CNA certification training in exchange for students volunteering as certified nurses’ aides.”
The hospital now offers the CNA certification training, which can usually cost up to $1000, at no cost to students who volunteer and are part of the pre-med program on campus. The intensive training session lasts a week and a half, and can be completed before classes start again by students who return from break early.
Once students are CNA certified, they can work hands-on with a patient, gaining valuable experience. This certification is also beneficial to the hospital. Prior to the changes effected by the dean, the emergency room was low on staff who were able to interact directly with patients.
“The one nurse who was in charge of running the rooms and scheduling was also in charge of flipping the rooms,” senior Caroline Green, one of the pre-med program volunteers, said. “It was overwhelming and so hard for her.”
Previous options for student volunteer work often consisted of stocking rooms with linens, making beds, or simply observing. With the new volunteering partnership, the experience is more hands-on.
“As patient care coordinators, our job is to keep the patients happy and communicate with them and do what we can to keep the emergency room running smoothly,” Green said. “That kind of personal, human-to-patient interaction is especially important.”
The partnership between the program and health center has been well-received by students in the pre-med program.
“The program just tries to prepare you really well,” junior Zoe Norr said.
Although the new step has been successful so far, the Patient Care Coordinator Program is looking to expand even further to other departments in the hospital, as current options for volunteering are limited to the emergency room.
“I will be meeting with the skilled nursing director about expanding volunteering to the more long-term patient care area,” Wynia said. “Any student who is considering anything in medicine should try to get involved in some way in hospital volunteering through the program.”
