CNA Program Structure and Management Notes

Overview of the CNA Program

  • The Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program is now in its second year.
  • The CNA program consists of three main components:
    • Class Portion: The theoretical and instructional part.
    • Lab Portion: Hands-on skills practice that requires organization and a clear assessment process.
    • Clinical Portion: Practical experience in a clinical setting where students apply skills learned in labs.

Course Structure

  • Dual Certification: The program offers dual credit, which combines high school credit and college credit.
  • Alignment with Standards: Skills taught are aligned with state requirements, though some disconnect is noted between the CNA program at Oakland and local high schools.
  • The instructor has flexibility in how the program is taught, suggesting a personalized approach for student skill assessments.

Assessment and Testing

  • Current Assessment Method: Skills testing is done primarily on paper, which has proven challenging to manage.
  • Proposed Improvements:
    • Transitioning to electronic methods to streamline tracking and assessment.
    • Implementing a rolling basis for skill assessments rather than chapter-based.
  • Need for a better system to track which skills students have mastered and which need re-assessment.

Clinical Experience

  • Clinical Hours Requirement: Students are required to complete 60 hours in clinical settings from January to April, with a proposal to shift this timeframe to December to March for the next cohort.
  • Tracking Attendance: Attendance hasn’t been adequately tracked, as clinical instructors were not informed on how to manage this. It needs a reliable sign-in/out process.
  • Proposed Solutions:
    • Create a Google form for students to log clinical hours.
    • Develop an approval system where clinical instructors confirm student attendance.

Managing Clinical Documentation

  • Forms and Clearance: Students need to complete various forms to begin clinicals, including medical clearance, which currently contributes to inefficiencies.
  • Suggestions include:
    • Utilizing spreadsheets for forms tracking and attendance.
    • Implementing a Google Form for submission to ease the log management.
    • Receive digital submissions of clearance forms to track compliance over time.

Organizational Tools for Learning

  • Skills Checklist: Students receive a list of skills to demonstrate. The instructor wants to know common areas of struggle (e.g., failing at bathing) to improve instructional focus.
  • Potential to implement a form for tracking skill assessments where instructors can log results directly into a central spreadsheet.
  • Enable checklists that display why a student failed a skill if applicable, for easier tracking of progress.

Further Steps and Planning

  • Need to arrange a meeting to dive deeper into identifying specific needs for form organization, skill assessment, and communication between students and instructors for upcoming terms.
  • Discussion on the role of technology in maintaining organized records, proposing digital solutions to replace inefficient paper methods.
  • Emphasizing communication and scheduling adjustments for clinical instructors to avoid gaps in attendance tracking.

Conclusion

  • The goal is to streamline processes for better tracking and assessment of students throughout the CNA program, enhancing their educational experience and maintaining compliance with educational standards.