Pictured left to right, 2021 AHS Nursing Assistant Program Instructor and Participants: Melba Hess (instructor), Tania Calloway, Railee Schmidt, Liza Embry, Jasmyn Smith, Anna Moss and Melissa Cooper.

UA Cossatot’s Continuing Education department and Ashdown High School partnered together to offer Ashdown High School seniors the chance to receive nursing assistant training in high school, to prepare for the certified nursing assistant exam after graduation. After passing this exam, these students can earn a license to work as a Certified Nursing Assistant. Students who participated in the training program received 90 hours of training, with sixteen hours being in a clinical setting at Pleasant Manor Nursing Home in Ashdown.

The seven students who participated in the nursing assistant training program included: Melissa Cooper, Tania Calloway, Liza Embry, Anna Moss, Aleia Schmidt, and Jasmyn Smith.

Ashdown High School is the first high school to partner with UA Cossatot to offer a nursing assistant training program to high school seniors when launching the first course in 2018-2019. Job prospects for Certified Nursing Assistants are bright. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the demand for Certified Nursing Assistants will rise at a rate of eleven percent through 2026, which is much faster than the average job growth. As the population ages, demand for round-the-clock nursing services will continue to be needed.