The state of Georgia is growing older. The fastest-growing segment of the state’s population is women and men over the age of 60 – putting stress on long-term care facilities across Georgia. A critical pain point is a statewide shortage of certified nursing assistants, or CNAs. They perform a wide range of duties supporting patient care.
In April of 2022, the University of Georgia’s Institute for Disaster Management and Institute of Gerontology launched an $11 million statewide initiative to recruit and train hundreds of new CNAs. Curt Harris, the Institute for Disaster Management’s director and an associate professor in the university’s College of Public Health, headed this initiative. It’s one of several projects led by the institute to improve long-term care across the state. Harris discusses the significance of these projects with WUGA’s Greg Trevor in the latest segment of the ongoing series, “A Few Minutes With …”, highlighting university initiatives and their benefits to the people of Georgia and beyond.
Over the past two years, the Georgia CNA Career Pathway Initiative and the CNA Virtual Skills Program have given out more than $2 million in stipends to support CNA growth and added more than 1,100 certified nursing assistants to the Georgia Registry. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a certified nursing assistant, go to mycnacareer.org or cnatesting.uga.edu.
