Organizational example:

Name

Healthcare Career Lattice Program
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Program Purpose

To increase the number of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), and Registered Nurses (RNs) by establishing a career lattice in healthcare, so that anyone with an interest in a nursing career can enter at a lower, middle or upper rung.

Program Description

CAEL uses the term “lattice” to recognize that careers do not always follow a linear progression. Workers often make lateral moves in their careers, which can be just as important for their career development. To illustrate, a career “ladder” would focus only on the progression of CNAs to LPNs to RNs, while a lattice recognizes that LPN candidates can also be drawn from other branches of the healthcare field (e.g., lab techs) as well as from non-healthcare professions.
In the CNA Ladder, apprentices are hired as soon as they enter the program. Candidates come from inside the organization, from high schools, and from publicly-funded One-Stop Career Centers. Training includes 144 hours of clinical and didactic training and 2000 hours of training on the job. There are specialization opportunities in geriatric, dementia, pediatric, and restorative care.
In the LPN Ladder, the apprenticeship program draws candidates from within the healthcare system (incumbent workers and advanced CNAs) and from outside (high schools and One-Stop Career Centers).
These programs link to an Online LPN to RN Ladder, a web-based online LPN-to-RN program that gives working LPNs flexibility in completing the didactic training, provides articulation with local community colleges to oversee the clinical training, and prepares participants to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam.

Program Description

At the nine pilot sites, the Nursing Career Lattice Program is an employer-driven partnership that includes healthcare facilities, community colleges, the public workforce system, and community organizations.
Participating employers expect that the program will contribute to reduced turnover, thereby reducing recruitment costs. The program is also expected to improve the quality of patient care and increase the diversity of the workforce.

Progress

The program was initially carried out in five sites: Houston, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Chicago, Washington State and Maryland (OATELS, 2006b). Enrollments in the initial pilot sites as of spring, 2006 are: Houston – 135; Sioux Falls – 170; Chicago – 214; Washington – 17; and Maryland – 125. In 2006, the project has rolled out to four new sites: Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan and Virginia.

Contact Information

Phyllis Snyder, Vice President
1608 Walnut Street, Suite 1404
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
T: 215.731.0191
psnyder@cael.org
www.caelhealthcare.org