Slusher said the first week of the program, which is through Mercy College of Ohio, is online 30-hour coursework, and the second is an on-site clinical orientation. She said students there attend a one-day skills lab and hands-on training before being hired and trained further on the job.
Classes are typically kept to 10 students or less to allow a more personalized, hands-on program for each participant, Slusher said. Students who complete the program are guaranteed jobs at Mercy Health.
The program started in October 2021 and has grown since then.
Juwan Walker, a patient care technician at the hospital, said he went through the program after feeling unfulfilled at a warehouse job. He said his stepmother, who has been a nurse for several years, has told him throughout his life that he would be a great nurse.
Walker saw the job posting and was nervous because he had no healthcare training at the time, but decided to apply anyway, he said. Walker said he enjoys going to work each day and seeing an impact on his patients.
“Doing the job as itself, like the tech role — it really did inspire me to want to become a nurse,” Walker said. “It was an eye-opener for sure.”
Slusher said students learn the basics of everything they will need to know about healthcare, like nutrition, hygiene care, how to take vital signs, how to document intake and output and how to safely transfer a patient from a bed to a chair.
Through the program, Walker said he learned how to interact with patients, how to work with patients struggling with mental illness, how to check a patient’s vitals and more skills that he uses constantly on the job.
Walker said he tries to connect with each of his patients rather than just giving them care and going to the next patient. He said he saw the advantage of this in one particular case, when a patient told her family that she only wanted Walker to take care of her.
“That makes me feel good,” Walker said. “I felt like I impacted her somehow ...”
The program relieves some of the stress nurses are experiencing due to short staffing by giving them more help, Slusher said.
After the program, many students remain in the patient care technician role, while others may pursue other fields, like phlebotomy, or pursue further healthcare education, Slusher said. Mercy Health pays tuition for employees in many programs.
Walker is taking advantage of this; he said he will attend the Clark State nursing program in the fall. Mercy Health will reimburse his tuition costs if he maintains C-average grades.
Slusher said there are courses for the program almost constantly, as Mercy Health does not “delay employment.”
Slusher said it can be difficult to fill open roles that require certifications and healthcare experience, and the training program addresses the issue.
“How can we get people in that haven’t had that chance yet to get that certification, or where do they even go to get the certification?” Slusher said. “So being able to provide that for them has really opened a lot of doors for folks that otherwise would struggle getting into healthcare and get going.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
About the Author