This year at Coppell High School, students in the health services endorsement will not have the opportunity to become Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) due to a lack of trained teachers.

“We would have had a lot of opportunities being CNAs and it is sad that they stopped it, but now, we have anatomy, physiology and psychology classes instead,” junior HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) reporter Krisha Mehta said.

The program was discontinued this year due to the lack of certified teachers qualified to teach the students in health classes. The program is set to resume once there are enough trained teachers.

“Our plan right now is to have [the CNA program] up and running next year,” CNA and HOSA sponsor Martha Eitelman said. “There is not many [qualified teachers] around and when we lost the one we lost, it was hard to find a replacement,”

Eitelman previously worked as an ER nurse, giving her the qualifications to teach a EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) program. She is currently working afterschool in a nursing home in order to get the experience and hours necessary to teach reintroduce the CNA program next year.

During the summer, there was an effort made by the school to hire qualified applicants

“We are already in talks with people about next year, they know the people and positions we need to hire and those are already open,” STEM coordinator Mike Yakubovsky said.

Since instructors are specifically required to be a registered nurse, have experience in a nursing home, and be a certified teacher, it was difficult to find replacements.

Public services is an endorsement chosen by students interested in a career in the field of education or medicine. This line of service was established by House Bill 5 in 2014, primarily impacting the Class of 2018.

“It is a huge benefit for anyone going into healthcare,” Eitelman said. “The number one reason for me is that every medical, nursing and upper level medical professional program is very competitive and having some type of experience and certification in the medical field gives you a upper hand in being admitted to the school,”

The endorsement programs offered at CHS include Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM), Public Services, Arts and Humanities, Business and Industry and Multidisciplinary Studies.

Students in the health services endorsement chose this route due to its connection to their future career in medicine and early opportunities for practical applications of medical and professional skills.

By becoming a CNA, students can perform basic patient care duties in a hospital such as taking vital signs, like temperature and blood pressure, transferring patients from wheelchairs to beds and assisting with applying and disposing of bandages.

The program allows students to learn skills specific to the medical field, show early interest in medicine to universities and learn and observe in a medical focused environment.

“I was actually really upset because I was looking forward learning the medical techniques and procedures,” junior HOSA president Prachi Kalyan said. “I want to go into the medical field so I thought this would be a good opportunity for me regarding college applications,”

Next year, health students will be evenly distributed between the EMT, CNA, and one other certification still to be determined.

“We could start [interviewing], but it is obviously too early in the year,” Yakubovsky said. “No matter what happens, we are bringing [the CNA program] back next year.”