Shoshone CNA program evolves to fit need
CNAs in the Silver Valley celebrate completing their CNA training through North Idaho College in fall 2023. Pictured from left: Ronni Barney, Matthew Dahlberg, Pauletta Frost, Mariah Hanks, Ivey Jones, Vitani Jones, Louis Powell, Corinne Smith and Emma Van Hoose.
PINEHURST — Losing the North Idaho College outreach centers in Shoshone County and Bonners Ferry in 2020 meant a shift to digital courses or traveling out of the county to Coeur d’Alene for classes.
“The barrier is transportation. My dream would be to have a KTEC (Kootenai Technical Education Campus) here,” Tina Karst said.
Karst, who coordinates job fairs for the Kellogg School District, in addition to being the special education director, said since the NIC satellite office there closed, local workforce training programs have been lacking.
The need was great enough for one program, however, to bring it back.
CNA Coordinator for NIC’s Workforce Training Center Sarah Martin said Shoshone Medical Center reached out to NIC to make a proposal.
“We used to offer a CNA class on a regular basis in the Silver Valley when NIC had an outreach center out there, but that closed down a few years ago,” Martin said.
The program would generate job training for the hospital, but also create a new lifeline for community members.
It took a few classes to get momentum, but the program now operates out of Shoshone Medical Center’s Community Center in Pinehurst several times a year.
“We’ve started to see the demand for the class in the Silver Valley to just skyrocket. We’re now offering at least one class there about three times a year and we will periodically throw in an additional one based on the demand,” Martin said.
The course takes over 150 hours to receive CNA certification, exceeding the state requirement for additional training. Students go through seven weeks of lab instruction and then move to working in the field at long-term care facilities or hospitals for their clinicals.
Martin said the CNA program is hoping to add a similar course in St. Maries in the future based on the success of the Silver Valley program.
The Silver Valley program also allows for CNA apprenticeship partners so students can potentially do their clinicals at the place where they work and get paid for it.
“It’s really a starting point to further education for those that live in the Silver Valley and those rural areas for them to gain the critical skills they need so the community has skilled workers. The hope is they will stay in the community and provide the services in the form of patient care,” Martin said.
About 30 CNAs annually complete the Silver Valley program, but the program is still being adjusted and tweaked to accommodate students.
“With the partnership from Shoshone, we at least have the space and they’re committed to making sure that we can have access to it to provide the training for the community," Martin said. "We couldn’t have done it without Shoshone (Medical Center)...Partnerships like those are key."
