In an attempt to give students access to quality career and technical programming, Moraine Park Technical college has partnered with Berlin High  School to offer a certified nursing assistant class. The class is being taught by Anne Deacy, a certified instructor from Moraine Park. It will take place during first and second hour next semester and the students will receive one high school credit. There are ten slots, that are currently full, for the class and many requirements in order to be eligible for it. 

“In order to participate in a Nursing Assistant Course, students must be 16 years old, must complete a criminal background check, and must have vaccinations against several communicable diseases like COVID, influenza, mumps, measles, rubella, varicella (chicken pox), tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), and hepatitis B,” Deacy said. “In addition, they must have a tuberculosis blood test or two tuberculosis skin tests. Most facilities that clinicals are performed in also require a drug screen prior to the start of clinicals. These requirements are all needed to assure (to the extent possible) that clients in the facility will be kept safe from preventable diseases,” Deacy said.

The school had to acquire equipment and supplies to meet the requirements of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The school received a grant from the ThedaCare Foundation for $8500 to help offset some costs of the CNA Lab. 

“Some of the equipment was donated from Thedacare. Some came from a Thedacare foundation grant. The rest was purchased by the district,” Principal Bryant Bednarek said. 

Senior Madison Mertens is one of the ten students enrolled in the class, and says she is excited about getting to learn new things and to participate in clinicals. 

“I decided to take this class because I am looking into careers in the medical field, and thought it would be a good way to start,” Mertens said. 

The students in the class will have a variety of hands-on experiences including trips to Juliette Manor. 

“The clinical hours will be spent at a long term care facility right in Berlin. Students will have exposure to a local facility in the event they want to apply to work there after completing the certification exams,” Deacy said. 

Ultimately his class will give students an introduction into the healthcare field.

“It is a perfect opportunity to decide if this type of work is something you really enjoy and are passionate about or if it is something that maybe you are not interested in pursuing in the future. There is nothing wrong with taking the class and identifying that this is not the best use of your ‘gifts and talents’. Sometimes you have to experience to know that it isn’t,” Deacy said.