New AC ESL program due to growing nursing demand
Amarillo College is developing a way to help propel non-native English speakers through its 12-week certified nurse aide program and meet a growing demand in the area’s health care system.
The college is establishing a new integrated English-as-a-second-language program, thanks to a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission, the state agency charged with providing training and services to Texas job seekers and employers.
The new program will cater to advanced English language learners and focus on preparing them specifically for nursing coursework.
“What we’ve found is quite a few of our students are very well educated in their native countries, and the one thing that’s the roadblock for them here in the U.S. is language,” said Matthew Piech, ESL program coordinator at Amarillo College.
The college serves about 300 students each semester through the existing ESL program. The current offerings in the program are “geared toward survival English,” Piech said.
A useful resource for the area’s significant refugee population, classes cover basic skills like reading, writing, speaking and listening. The program equips students with the ability to ask for directions or shop at a grocery store.
A nursing-focused ESL course will cover technical terms – like stethoscope or antibiotic – and will be taught in the mornings each day prior to nursing classes, Piech said.
“All of the content and curriculum would basically be preparing the students for what they’re going to be studying with the CNA (certified nurse aide) instructor that afternoon,” he said.
The college’s nursing program provides training for the state nurse aide certification exam. The total cost for the program is about $1,200, according to the Amarillo College website.
The integrated ESL class will be free because of the grant funding, Piech said, but students will likely have to take a test to ensure they have the minimum language skills needed.
The new ESL program is set to be piloted in the summer at the Amarillo College Hinkson Memorial Campus in Hereford. The college plans to schedule community meetings to fine tune the program.
Nursing assistant is listed as a “high demand occupation” by Panhandle Workforce Solutions, the local arm of the Texas Workforce Commission.
It projects a 23 percent growth in the field in the years from 2014 to 2024, placing nursing assistant among the fastest growing local occupations.
During that span, the workforce agency estimates an average of 80 job openings annually.
Panhandle Workforce Solutions also pegs nursing assistant as a “targeted occupation,” which means job seekers can apply to the workforce agency for financial aid.