CNA Educators Conference 2020
The Health Workforce Initiative (HWI), powered by the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office in partnership with the Quality Care Health Foundation (QCHF), hosted the first Certified Nurse Assistant Educators Conference on Friday, January 10, 2020, in Sacramento. Held at the Sacramento California Endowment offices, over 100 persons attended from community colleges, K-12 and ROP/ Adult Ed programs, private education programs, and facility-based programs.
This one-day conference was an outcome of an employer engaged workgroup chaired by industry to bring together educators of this entry-level workforce that poses a substantial shortage for the state of California. The planning committee Gina Patterson (QCHF); Trudy Old (HWI); Laurie Sienkiewicz (HWI); Claire Enright (QCHF); Lisa Duncan, Family Health Centers of San Diego; Wesley Muller, Oakmont High School; Genil Washington (Dignity Health); Gerlyn Ricacho, Rockport Healthcare Services created a robust agenda including topics on retention & turnover, workforce service opportunities from the CA Employment Development Department (EDD), and discussions on emerging trends from the industry in long term/ skilled care and education issues, needs and best practices.
David Farrell, M.S.W., L.N.H.A. keynote, set the tone for the discussion on Retention &Turnover, embedding his many years of experience. Mr. Farrell is a licensed nursing home administrator who has spent over 30 years in the health care profession. He started as a certified nursing assistant to earn extra money while attending college. That experience inspired him to pursue a master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in gerontology and administration from Boston College. Throughout his career in various leadership positions, David has advocated for patient-centered care using quality improvement practices. A nationally recognized leader in the field, he has traveled the country to deliver inspiring presentations to health care executives at conferences and training events. Currently, David is the Vice President of Subacute Services at Telecare Corporation, located in Alameda, California.
Additionally, Mr. Thomas Flournoy, Acting Deputy Director for the Employment Development Department’s Workforce Services Branch (WSB), discussed the workforce services of the EDD-WSB. One of the largest public employment systems in the world offering employment and training services at American Job Centers across California. EDD in collaboration with partner agencies, connects over one million job seekers with employers each year. Thomas’ career spans nearly 28 years in the Workforce Development industry where he gained a broad range of knowledge and experience relative to job-driven sector initiatives and service delivery. Among the various positions Thomas has held at the EDD, one the most enjoyed was conducting research and providing analyzes about labor supply and demand, earnings, employment and unemployment statistics, job outlook, and demographics of the labor force. Thomas is the United States Armed Forces Veteran. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University San Bernardino.
Attendees ranged from faculty, teachers, administrators, directors of staff development, and workforce training partners from across the state. One attendee stated, “Thank you for the wonderful and informative CNA Educators Conference that took place today. I hope it will be an event that occurs annually for us instructors to continue to learn, be updated, and be kept abreast of new information and knowledge about the profession. The networking with our fellow peers was another valuable asset of the event.”
HWI provided the updated California Department of Public Health (CDPH) approved CNA curriculum available on the website (https://ca-hwi.org/blog/2018-nursing-assistant-model-curriculum-cdph-approved) to access for program development and renewal. For more information, please reach out to John Cordova, Statewide Director, Health Workforce Initiative at john.cordova@canyons.edu
CNA Educators Conference 2020 Retention and Turnover
CNA Conference 2020 Workforce Servcies EDD
Powered by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, Division of Workforce and Economic Development funded by the Health Workforce Initiative grant #19-156-001 hosted at Santa Clarita Community College District – College of the Canyons.