PruittHealth, a family-owned organization providing post-acute care services in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, provides support for certified nurse assistants (CNAs) wanting to expand their career path through its CNA Career Ladder Program.
Participants attend in-person workshops on topics like hospice and dementia, along with multiple online educational courses designed to enhance their abilities to provide care.
A highlight of the program is attendance at a training conference at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where participants continue to receive training on leadership, mentorship, clinical initiatives, and training from Disney Institute.
Many of the CNAs who have completed the Career Ladder Program have developed a sense of drive. That was certainly the case for one frontline CNA who completed the program.
He became a model for his work ethic and inspired others at his facility to improve theirs by picking up extra shifts if they knew he was working.
Morale is high among staff, and he mentors other staff members as they are hired on. He works as a liaison with PruittHealth’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Neil Pruitt Jr. to address concerns.
All participants of the CNA ladder program mentor new CNAs that work at PruittHealth, and many have continued to evolve in the career path to become registered nurses.
Bringing Leaders Into the Fold
PruittHealth’s Administrator in Training (AIT) program is designed to create future skilled nursing facility administrators. Internal employees that have shown leadership and management abilities are accepted into the AIT program, along with employees from outside the company.
Leadership opportunities are plentiful at PruittHealth. The organization grooms future leaders in post-acute care via its Executive Management Advancement Program (EMAP).
Many young adults are not familiar with the post-acute sector of health care and the opportunities that are available, says a source at PruittHealth. The EMAP program is designed to change that narrative.
Participants are employees who learn about the overall continuum of care for patients while receiving master of business administration and master of health administration degrees through Georgia State University.