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Student gain experience in Hinsdale Hospital CNA program
Hinsdale Adventist Academy senior E.J. Villasin gets his blood pressure checked by fellow senior Daniel Antwi. Both students are seeking to become certified nursing assistants through the academy’s new partnership with Adventist Hinsdale Hospital.
Updated: July 22, 2012 6:05AM
Hinsdale Adventist Academy and Adventist Hinsdale Hospital have joined forces to develop one of Illinois’s only private-school based Certified Nursing Assistant program. Twenty students, including academy seniors, hospital employees and community members, spent the semester completing hands-on training at the hospital twice a week.
As neighbors and members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the academy and hospital have worked together on various initiatives over the years.
“The partnership has been such a blessing for our hospital,” said Marcie Calandra, director in nursing, magnet and process improvement at Hinsdale Hospital. “We are training young people with the highest possible standards, right from the beginning of their careers. Medical work is one of the highest callings a person can have.”
Program participant Daniel Antwi, an academy senior, plans to pursue a career as a physician.
“This course has given me the real-life experience I needed to know I am on the right path,” Antwi said. “I hope to work as a CNA throughout college to keep me grounded and, of course, help pay off the loans.”
Hinsdale Adventist Academy Administrative Principal George Babcock was the brainchild behind the initiative.
“We have done a major overhaul of Hinsdale Adventist Academy in the past two years,” Babcock said. “One thing I want for my students is to have them graduate with a marketable skill. These young people will now be able to fund themselves through university or commence a medical career with much better insight into the realities that they will face.
All students enrolled in the program have now completed their necessary course work, taught by College of DuPage instructor Marilyn Bumber. Clinical skills were assessed by the Illinois Department of Public Health. All that is left for students to become fully qualified CNAs is to pass state exams administered in June.
