Nursing Assistant Program Returns After Hiatus

The Course Returns to CTE with a New Instructor

With gleaming white lab coats and mannequins still waiting to be turned into patients, just about everything in the Center for Career Services’ Nursing Assistant program appears new. For the instructor and the students, everything is. But the program, which was a staple of the school until two years ago, is in the midst of a revival.

The two-year program returned to the CTE campus for the 2024-25 school year with a batch of first-year students and under the direction of Glenda Pollard, who has worked as a Registered Nurse for more than 40 years and taught adult education courses for 10.

At the end of the program, students will be eligible to sit for the New York State certification exam to become a Certified Nursing Assistant.

Pollard believes the students must learn both physical and interpersonal skills that will allow them to achieve that goal.

“I want to foster their ability to look at the job not as task-oriented but holistic and apply their own empathy skills while taking care of people,” Pollard said. “That’s my goal. I want them to not only look at the task at hand but to think and integrate their knowledge and give that patient the best quality care possible.”

Students will be taught nursing skills, professionalism, communication and body mechanics, while also learning more about medical terminology, infection control, disease pathology and systems of the body. The curriculum comes directly from the New York State Department of Education.

“It’s quite comprehensive,” Pollard said. “I just add my input.”

Certified Nursing Assistants are trained to work in nursing homes and hospitals as well as hospice and rehabilitation facilities. Second-year students will have an opportunity to take clinical visits and work 1-on-1 with a nearby nursing home.

Pollard has about a dozen students in both her morning and afternoon sessions.

“The kids are great,” she said. “They’ve done an autobiography about themselves and quite a few are interested in doing this full-time. They’ve been very involved and very eager to learn so far.”