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March 23, 2010
Mercy Reaches Out to Displaced John Morrell Workers
Program Encourages Minorities to Consider Healthcare Career
Mercy Medical Center—Sioux City is offering a special program to encourage workers who may be displaced by the closure of the John Morrell plant in Sioux City to consider a new career in health care.
The Certified Nurse Aide Program for John Morrell Displaced Employees is designed to attract men and women interested in improving the quality of nursing care for Siouxland’s diverse population by increasing the bilingual nursing workforce at Mercy Medical Center.
The program has been developed to offer support as well as technical training for people wishing to become a Certified Nurse Aide or CNA.
“As part of Mercy’s mission and as an extension of our Community Benefit Ministry in Siouxland, we have an opportunity to respond to a community need and thereby create an opportunity for those that may be negatively impacted by the closure of one of the area’s largest employers,” said Linda Krei, vice president of Organizational Development and Mercy’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “This program creates a win-win situation by assisting individuals to gain new skills for meaningful roles and rewarding work in health care. In turn, that will position them to serve others in our community within Mercy’s spirit of Faith Inspired Service and Healing.”
Once enrolled in Mercy’s program, displaced John Morrell workers will enroll in Nurse Aide Theory and Nurse Aide Clinical classes at Western Iowa Technical Community College this summer. Those bilingual in Spanish will also be asked to enroll in an English/Spanish Medical Terminology class. Mercy Medical Center will cover the cost of tuition, books and the clinical class. The hospital will also pay for shoes, a uniform, and the physical exam that is necessary for the clinical rotation course.
Once their education is completed, new CNAs will be encouraged to apply for open positions at Mercy.
In order to apply for Mercy’s Certified Nurse Aide Program, an individual must be a high school graduate, have a GED, or must be pursuing a GED. The hospital will also consider equivalent education obtained in a foreign country. Applicants must also be bilingual with one of the languages being English. They must provide two letters of reference.
“We believe this is a very worthwhile program because minorities working in health care can help prevent disparities in health status as they care for others from their ethnic community,” Krei added. “This program is intended to be inclusive and designed to provide full encouragement and support by helping to eliminate many of the traditional barriers to participation.”
John Morrell workers interested in applying for the CNA training program should contact Pat Rodriguez in Mercy’s Human Resources office for a packet of information and application materials. She can be contacted by calling (712) 279-2773.
Candidates for the program will be interviewed April 19 through April 30. Positions will be awarded before early May.
Under direct supervision, Certified Nurse Assistants are responsible for assisting with direct patient care as well as other work in Mercy’s patient care areas. Typical duties include assisting with a patient’s activities of daily living, obtaining vital signs, transporting patients to and from hospital departments, responding to patient call lights, and assisting with the patient dismissal process.
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