Catholic Charities of Boston’s (CCAB) Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide (NA/HHA) Training Program seeks to address the critical shortage of nursing assistants in the Commonwealth and provide employment opportunities to unemployed and underemployed community members by training 162 individuals annually and providing them with integrated wrap-around support, career path exploration, job readiness, and job placement services.

The components of the NA/HHA Training Program are as follows and utilize the textbook Hartman’s Nursing Assistant Care, Long-Term Care and Home Care by Susan Alvare Hedman, Jetta Fuzy, and Suzanne Rymer.Curriculum topics include understanding the healthcare setting and the healthcare team; legal and ethical issues; communication and cultural diversity; preventing infection; safety and body mechanics; positioning, lifting, and moving; emergency care and disaster preparation; human needs and human development; the healthy human body; terminology and abbreviations; admitting, transferring, and discharging; personal care skills; basic nursing skills; nutrition and hydration; urinary and bowel elimination; common chronic and acute conditions including confusion, dementia, and Alzheimer’s Disease; mental health and mental illness; rehabilitation and restorative care; special care skills; death and dying; home care: infection prevention and safety; medications; new mothers, infants, and children; meal planning, shopping, preparation, and storage; managing time, energy, and money in the home; and caring for your career and yourself. The course includes 3-4 quizzes and a mid-program progress report; skills practice; 21 hours of clinical at a long-term care facility; and final exams in Home Health Aide and Nursing Assistant.

CCAB is partnering with Mass General Brigham, Boston Children’s Hospital, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Linden Ponds, and ComForCare to place graduates into employment at premier healthcare institutions. Once employed, they gain access to robust internal workforce development offerings and career development programs, with extensive opportunities for growth and advancement. CCAB’s NA/HHA Training Program works closely with the MassHire Workforce Boards and Career Centers in Boston and Brockton to stay deeply connected to the local workforce development and training community, as well as leveraging resources available to MassHire members for CCAB participants.

Participants begin preparing for their job search at intake. The Outreach & Enrollment Coordinator gathers information on the student’s interests, schedule preferences, childcare needs, and other factors that will impact placement. Based on the skill needs of the job market, a module on workforce culture competencies was developed and incorporated in the training program to improve candidates’ understanding of the expectations of the employers. The Career Coach meets with students weekly to review their current resume and update it with their new experience and skills, search open positions, and coordinate meetings/interviews with employer partners. Participants conduct research on different employment options and practice interview questions with their coach. The coach organizes and hosts regular job fairs with the participation of key employers and schedules to visit them if they need to.