BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Staff Writer
LAKE BUTLER — Students at Union County High School have numerous opportunities to take classes that will help them on the way to future careers with good pay and benefits, but some of the programs available to them offer quicker employment and start them on the road to success sooner, often immediately after graduation.
The Career and Technical Education Program is a group of classes that enable students to enter the workforce immediately after they earn their diploma – often in well-paying fields that allow the student to delve deeper and pursue more advanced learning opportunities while already making a good living.
One such offering is the Health Sciences Program, a three-year endeavor that allows a student to graduate with their Florida Certified Nurse’s Assistant credential, ready to go to work the day after graduation if they wish.
Candace Brannen is the lead instructor of the second and third years of the program and works with students at all three levels as an advisor and mentor. She is a product of the program, graduating from UCHS in 2004 with her CNA certification. She began working in the field and was lucky enough to have an employer willing to pay for her to continue her education (not uncommon, she says). She worked while getting through nursing school at the former Lake City Community College, graduating as a registered nurse with an associate degree in nursing. She has worked at UF Shands, Palm Gardens, Shands UF and then as an instructor at Columbia County High School for three years.
“When the UCHS program grew so large, Superintendent Mike Ripplinger (the then UCHS principal) called me and asked if I was ready to come home,” Brannen said. I took it, coming to work with lead instructor Lori Howard.”
The first year component of the program is by far the most academically demanding of the student. Human anatomy is easily the most academically challenging of the three program components. It is taught by Diana Jackson, who also teaches health science at the middle school. Students must make a passing grade in anatomy in order to be allowed to enroll in the second and third components of the program.
The second year of the program is titled Foundations and provides students with a medical overview of what students need to know to successfully enter a medical profession. Also discussed are specific areas in the field, including medical concerns, legal issues and ethics. Students practice on mannequins and each other, taking temperature, heart rate and blood pressure, as well as techniques such as CPR, assisting a patient in getting out of bed, sitting in a chair and walking.
The third year is titled CNA and involves hands on procedures with patients in nursing homes doing general patient care – such as helping them to dress, bathing, hair care and general wellness assessments. CNA students are not allowed to deal with medications or perform invasive procedures such as drawing blood. They do, however, conduct health screenings at the elementary and middle schools, checking vital signs as well as height, weight, hearing and vision.
“All this learning relates to simple patient care and the activities of daily life,” Brannen said. “They learn techniques to keep patients comfortable and healthy (in the sense of not developing any new issues beyond what caused them to become patients in the first place). It’s a good experience for the students and it is also good for the patients as many of the nursing home residents truly enjoy frequent visits and conversations with young people. ”
Students learn in classrooms with hospital beds and mannequins which are equipped for practice on procedures such as CPR and natural movement assistance. Students read, watch videos and then work hands-on, putting what they have learned into practice, often on each other.
The program is approved by the Florida Board of Nursing, representatives of which have toured the classrooms and watched the teaching process. At the end of the program, in the spring, students take the state tests, both written and hands-on skills tests, and if they pass, they will receive their CNA license. Recruiters come from several area hospitals and nursing homes, as well as the state hospital in Macclenny, to talk to the students about working for them. Many of the students have a job waiting for them when they graduate.
Classes are small. The CNA level has a cap of 15 students, so more than one section is offered. More females than males enroll in the program, but there are some young men with interest who often excel. The classes offer many activities that cover all of the learning styles of students and there are guest speakers who are working medical professionals who talk about many topics. Also covered are different cultures and the differences that may be encountered in treating different ethnic or religious patients.
UCHS students have toured both the UF and FSU medical schools. This school year there are about 40 student enrolled in anatomy, about 35 in Foundations and 16 in the CNA class. The classes are considered electives, not part of the required core curriculum all students must take. The classes also allow the students to earn honors credits.
The program has had a pass rate well over the state average for the last 10 years — over 90% on the state tests. There are past students that are now in medical school and many other in nursing school or other programs in medical fields. The completion of the program successfully earns the students points that are needed to get into nursing school. There have been students in the program who have used the skills they have learned to save the life of a loved one. All are making a good living in a professional area of great demand and many are advancing through scholarships from their workplaces or paying for their own education rather than running up a huge student loan debt.
“One good thing about the program is that is allows students to try out the medical profession before they have spent a small fortune on paying for post- secondary education,” Brannen said. “We have a few over the years that have decided that it is just not for them and this gives them time to explore other opportunities.”
Brannen is in her 10th year at UCHS and has no plans to go elsewhere. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Joe, and the couple has three children.
“There is no way we could do this without the support and encouragement of the district and the administrators at both the district and the school level. It’s a team effort to get students through this program. The three mannequins we use have vital signs and talk to the students. We got a $50,000 grant to purchase them. These are learning tools that are usually only seen in colleges. I don’t know of any other high school in the area that has one.”
“My students walk out and make good money – these are not minimum wage jobs,” she continued. “They have jobs which offers them a decent lifestyle and the satisfaction of knowing they make a difference almost every day. It’s good for everyone involved.”
