Clarkston High students on fast track to nursing

Feb. 21—Four high school students will walk out of Clarkston High School as certified nursing assistants ready for the workforce.

Seniors Kayla Frei, Madeline Stelloh, Drake Hayes and junior Ryann Combs are taking a certified nursing assistant class taught by Genevieve Bross, a nursing and CNA instructor from Walla Walla Community College. The class is in its first semester and came together through a partnership of Clarkston High, Walla Walla CC and TriState Health.

Bross said the students are young and energetic, "everything is exciting and fresh."

Jordan Stover is a senior recruiter/generalist at TriState Health and oversees hiring and human resource functions. She said the class was a strategy to support local education for nursing and reach students before they leave the area for other colleges. Stover is also hoping students fill in the gaps of nurses being lost because of the baby boomer generation retiring and the number of nurses who turned to remote work after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"TriState saw a need to help develop our local pipelines to obtain staff within our organization," Stover said.

She said the class is two years in the making to get all the right pieces and people in place, like finding an instructor. TriState is also paying the tuition for the class. Students are working on skills like hand hygiene, transferring patients from a wheelchair to a bed, taking pulses and blood pressure and assisting with a bedpan.

"We're learning a lot of basic foundations of nursing that'll help us throughout the (rest) of our career," Stelloh said.

Bross is having the students work on those skills in a one-hour class, and they can read through the textbook online. She has been teaching for 13 years and usually teaches a four-hour lab, but for this class she worked with her colleagues as well as WWCC Clarkston's Campus Dean Chad Miltenberger and CHS Principal Doug LaMunyan, to break down the curriculum to fit the high school schedule.

TriState also met with WWCC and CHS to have the class taught at the high school rather than the college.

"Bringing the program to the students instead of bringing students to the program — that seemed to be the biggest roadblock," Stover said.

Stelloh, Frei, Combs and Hayes are enjoying how accessible the class is by having it on the high school campus and during school hours. Frei said it makes it easier for her to take the class because she's involved in extracurricular activities. Stelloh said the high school has an alternating A and B schedule, which makes it more difficult to coordinate the class schedule, so she was grateful TriState and WWCC worked with the school to accommodate students.

Clinicals for the class at TriState Health and Clarkston Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia will be also available during school hours. Shawn Neilson is a clinical educator for TriState Health and will take students under her wing during their clinicals by pairing them with nursing assistants to give the students real-world experience.

That experience and the certification are big draws for students so they can get an early start on their careers.

"I feel like this being in our school and having the financial support that we are able to have really makes it available to high school students, and it's a good way to get into health care and start your career," Combs said.

Combs will still be in school next year but will be able to work as a CNA throughout the summer and the school year. Hayes, Stelloh and Frei will have graduated and be able to start full-time careers or other educational opportunities. Stelloh is planning to earn a nursing degree through WWCC. Frei is planning to get a job at TriState and get her phlebotomy license through WWCC and then attend nursing school at Montana State University Billings or Lewis-Clark State College.

"It allows us to have a job opportunity outside of high school when we get out and get our actual CNA license," Frei said.

Although the first cohort of CNAs is small, it gives the students one-on-one time with Bross to build their skills and friendships with each other.

"All four of us students are close too, so every day is fun," Stelloh said. "We make jokes."

Some of those jokes are about Rhonda, the name students gave a wheelchair that sometimes loses its legs but is the only well-used item in the class. Frei was surprised when she first walked into the class and saw all the brand-new equipment.

"Other than Rhonda," she said.

The supplies come from TriState and WWCC, while the life skills class at the high school does laundry for the class.

While the students are enjoying the small class size, Stover is hoping the number of students increases.

"We're excited to see the program grow," she said, which includes providing the opportunity to other schools.

"I think if anyone has the opportunity to take this class next year, they should put it on their schedule," Frei said. "Even if you're not fully (sure) if medicine is what you want to do, it's a good way to see if you really want to."

At the end of the class, the four students will receive a completion certification that will allow them to take the state exam and earn their license. While the students aren't guaranteed a job at TriState, it will allow them to get their foot in the door and the hospital can help with other career and educational opportunities.

"It's affordable for us. It caters to us," Stelloh said. "It provides you with a career when you're done with high school and that's super awesome and not an opportunity a lot of people have."

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.