By Molly Tanenbaum
A new night class at the Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School has a room full of students, clad in navy scrubs, learning about the circulatory system, and the difference between hypertrophy and hypotrophy.
The 16 students are training to become certified nursing assistants, and to do so, they must learn about every system in the human body, and how to detect if something is going wrong.
Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are different from registered nurses (RNs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs). The 12-week, 180-hour training is basic, and equips them to provide comprehensive personal care to patients, particularly ones who cannot take care of their own basic needs such as bathing, changing positions and eating.
The MVLA Adult School works with the Los Altos Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center, where students can practice caring for patients in a real-life, clinical setting. CNAs often work in nursing homes, sub-acute facilities and the homes of disabled or elderly patients.
But according to Delores Ratliff, a registered nurse who helps teach the Adult School course, the CNA job has evolved over the years to include more responsibility.
“They do a great deal more nursing than they did 30 to 40 years ago,” Ratliff said.
Because the pay is low and the work is hardly glamorous, there is a high turnover rate for CNAs, according to Joanne Spetz, an associate professor at UCSF’s Center for the Health Professions.
However, there is a significant, growing demand for CNAs throughout the state, as there is for many health jobs. A 2002 study from the Center for the Health Professions found a shortage of up to 35,000 CNAs in California.
Not only that, but undergoing CNA training can the perfect stepping stone for aspiring nurses.
“It’s a good entry point into the field for someone who is thinking about going into nursing to test the waters,” Spetz said.
The certification makes applicants look attractive to nursing schools, because it demonstrates a strong commitment to the field.
“They’ve gotten in and rolled up their sleeves and seen what it’s really about,” Ratliff said.
The MVLA Adult School is satisfying a need for CNA training — and particularly for night classes — in Santa Clara County. There are only two other nearby facilities that offer this course — one in San Jose and one in Redwood City — and one is a day class. Day schedules make it impossible for people with full-time jobs, such as Celia Rullan, to attend.
When Rullan, a caretaker and Mountain View resident, heard that the Adult School was offering a CNA class at night, she was eager to take it.
“I [asked] my patient if I could go and he gave me permission,” Rullan said. With a CNA certification, she could continue to do her home-care work, but Medicare would cover her duties and she would earn health benefits.
“It’s a big opportunity for me,” Rullan said. “It benefits him and me.”
Part of the reason for the growing need in the health field, and particularly for daily care positions like CNAs, is the aging population, according to Ali Zenadel Haghighi, the primary course instructor for the Adult School’s new class.
“While the advancement of medical sciences have extended the life span, you also extend the life span of the disabled,” said Haghighi, who has taught similar courses all around the Bay.
“We are living beyond what nature intended,” he added.
More than two decades ago, the MVLA Adult School offered similar CNA training courses, and only recently decided to bring them back. Tuition is free, but classes require $500 worth of textbooks and supplies.
In planning to resurrect the course, Adult School Assistant Director Brenda Harris conducted a labor market study that found that the allied health field will be the fastest growing one over the next decade.
Rullan’s classmate, Kathleen Sutton, who recently moved to the Bay Area from Modesto, is taking the class for that reason.
“All these jobs out there are mainly in the medical field,” said Sutton, who had provided residential home care for a person in Modesto.
“When I saw that this class was being offered, I thought, ‘Wow, somebody’s finally doing something about it,'” she said.
During class orientation, 60 prospective students showed up to the Adult School. Because of teacher-student ratio requirements, right now the class sizes must be limited to under 20. But Harris’s goal is to train 30 students at a time.
Upon finishing the 12-week course, graduates of the program will receive job placement assistance from the Adult School, including resume and interview help. They must also pass a state exam to receive their certification.
“They’ll be prepared,” Harris said. “We’ll give them all the tools we possibly can.”
E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum
What: Certified Nursing Assistant program
Where: Mountain View-Los Altos Adult School
When: The next class session runs from April 17 to July 12, Monday-Thursday, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. with weekend clinical training. The next orientation will be held on March 8 at 5:30 p.m.
For more information: Visit www.mvlaae.net or call (650) 940-1333
