The healthcare industry is promoting learning on the job to grow staff

UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center has designed its Patient Care Assistant program for workers who are 18 years or older and have no medical certification or healthcare experience. The program starts with on-the-job training for six weeks. This program by UCHealth is only one example of how the US medical sector is contributing to expanding its worker base to deal with the increased demand for medical services as the American population ages.

UCHealth nursing support program coordinator, Judy Davidson, shares how nursing assistants provide almost 70% of direct patient care in hospital settings. “We realized we could train people with little to no experience in our own environment, allowing them to get hands-on clinical experience to meet the needs of hospitalized patients and interdisciplinary teams. When units have enough PCAs and CNAs to meet patients’ care needs, nurses are able to focus on their patient’s medical needs,” she elaborates.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the need for registered nurses to increase by 6% through 2031. This figure is in addition to the staggering number of nurses who quit their jobs during the pandemic years. Since the PCA program was launched in November 2021, there has been a participation of around 200 assistants who are learning on the job across the 12-hospital UCHealth system.

One other instance where teenagers gain access to the healthcare field is via Med Prep through Steamboat Springs High School. The students who enroll in the scheme can participate in 15-hour rotations. They have access to a wide variety of YVMC departments ranging from pharmacy to physical therapy, from obstetrics to the emergency department.

Christina Pryce is a former Med Prep student who now works as an X-ray technologist at YVMC. She says, “I ended up being really fascinated by radiology and being able to look inside of a human body with just the touch of a button. After my rotation through the radiology department, I knew that this was what I wanted to do. The techs that I shadowed with in radiology were really great mentors who didn’t hesitate to explain how everything worked. Now, some of them are my co-workers who continue to help me become better every day.”

The new UCHealth Ascend Career Program that commenced in February this year is another pathway for interested individuals to enter the field of medicine. The highlight of this program is that it allows employees to continue to work and receive financial assistance for continued education to advance in their healthcare careers. The UCHealth system helps cover the costs of some selected clinical certifications, learning programs, and college degrees for employees.