BY SETH MENSING | University Communications Manager
University’s new nursing program is training the next generation of healthcare workers.
The sounds of laughter echoed through the halls of Gunnison’s former Senior Care Center on a recent Tuesday as the first cohort of students in Western Colorado University’s new Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program practiced feeding a “client”—a role played by a fellow student.
However, while the first class of CNA students in Western’s new nursing program has fun during practice, they know the work they’re preparing for is quite serious. After completing the 10-week training program that equips them to care for a client’s daily needs – like feeding, bathing, and taking medication – they’ll be ready to meet a growing need in healthcare.
The CNA program is now up and running, thanks to Opportunity Now grants totaling more than $1.5 million from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT), which is using the program to increase the number of healthcare providers, specifically nurses, throughout the state. Western’s program is focused on training nurses to work specifically in rural areas where broad expertise is necessary and specialization is rare.
Soon, Western will expand the program to include an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Degree, which will take approximately 18 months to complete, along with a traditional 4-year BSN option.
The goal of a layered approach is to train new CNAs for rapid deployment in the workforce while allowing CNAs who are currently working in the Valley to continue their education without leaving, which would only exacerbate existing staffing shortages.
While administrators and faculty work to create space and find someone to lead the new program, which will be available to students in Fall 2025, the next generation of aspiring CNAs is already preparing to take their certification exam later this year.
For eight of the 10 weeks, students alternate between a skills lab, held in either a classroom or a hospital room at the Senior Care Center, and studying from a textbook, where they learn the basics of anatomy, pertinent legal issues, documentation, and other essential information.
“They also need to understand logic,” Emily McMahill, director of Western’s Center for Rural Mountain Allied Health, said. “The CNA is the nurses’ right-hand person, so they do need to be able to identify when something is wrong, and that requires a certain level of medical knowledge.”
To pass the final exam, students—including those from Gunnison Schools’ vocational Pathways Program and others enrolled at the University—must learn 23 skills, from feeding and bathing to checking blood pressure and safely performing the Heimlich Maneuver on clients in distress. Each skill can have 10 to 20 steps.
After graduation, the students will enter a job market in dire need of new graduates. Data suggests Colorado will need about 54,000 health professionals, like CNAs, by 2026. That’s about the time some of the first graduates of Western’s new nursing program will be ready to step into the void.
Photo Credit: Olivia Rienhardt
