There’s a nationwide shortage of qualified Caregivers, and it’s even more challenging if you’re hiring CNAs. The cold hard reality is there’s just not enough of them to go around. Whether your agency is only allowed to hire CNAs, or if you need a mix of both certified and uncertified Caregivers, chances are it’s difficult to make enough new CNA hires to staff cases. As providers adapt to the growing gap between supply and demand, the most successful way to make CNA hires is to create new CNAs altogether. The latest research shows 80% of uncertified Caregivers would get a CNA certificate if their employer paid for it.
We’ve seen many agencies successfully implement a paid CNA training program as a way to grow their CNA recruitment, and subsequently their business. For some, this means taking uncertified Caregivers who have been with the agency for a while and offering to pay for their certification as a way to reward the hard work of the Caregiver as well as provide the agency another much needed CNA. For agencies who only hire CNAs, they provide the classes for employees and are able to put them to work right out of school - a win-win!
The biggest obstacle for most agencies to implement a program like this is the cost. Providing the training adds additional cost to the Caregiver recruitment process, no doubt. But for some companies, the cost to train a CNA is significantly less than the cost of not having one. Between turning down cases, losing referral sources due to not having the bandwidth to accept new clients, and other operational costs associated with being short-staffed, providers are seeing great ROI on extensive training as part of their Caregiver, HHA, and CNA recruitment process.
A great example of this working comes from a company in Laramie, Wyoming. Being located in such a small town, they were struggling to attract new CNA talent. After deciding to implement a paid CNA program for interested Caregivers, they threw a myCNAjobs Career Fair and made 15 employment offers in a single day (you can read the full case study here). While this is just one example out of many, it highlights both the high interest level from Caregivers and the potential gain for employers. Home care recruitment is undergoing a makeover to keep up with the times, and agencies at the forefront of innovation will find themselves coming out on top in the end.
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