On this episode of Certify It, Doug Bryant is joined by Ellen Lamkey, Director of Nursing for Island Home Health and Rehab. Ellen shares her 14-year journey in long-term care, the transformative impact of upskilling employees, and how education is key to workforce development.

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00:00:00:00 - 00:00:04:05

Doug Bryant

You're listening to Certify It, the podcast for advancing your career in care. Powered by The Mason Center for Healthcare Education. Hear news updates and discussions from thought leaders in healthcare around advancing your career through continuing education. Now, here's your host, Doug Bryant from the Mason center.

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00:17 - 00:45

Doug Bryant

Welcome to Certify It the podcast for advancing Your career in care, brought to you by The Mason Center for Healthcare Education. My name is Doug Bryant, and I'm here today and I'm so excited with Ellen Lamkey, who is the Director of Nursing for Island Home Health and Rehab. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, you have three employees in the CNA class right now that's going on right here behind us. Yes, on the left. Now, how long have you, Ellen, been the director of nursing?

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00:45 - 00:46

Ellen Lamkey

14 years.

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00:46 - 01:52

Doug Bryant

14 years. So you're not new to this at all. Long term care has been in your blood. So, as you know, everybody has the pre-Covid post-Covid talks. You know this happened before. This happened after. Really, workforce during Covid really took a nosedive. And it's been a hard road trying to get back.

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And a lot of our neighbors and our friends and colleagues in this industry have not even begun to scratch the surface of coming back from the devastation that happened to the workforce during that time. But you all have really, I feel, gone leaps and bounds from where you were to where you are now. And a lot of it has been upskilling people and recognizing those skill sets and helping them believe in themselves to do more. Can you tell me how you use education today? Because I think that would be very insightful for people to know how a company like The Mason Center for Healthcare Education could possibly help them in building that workforce back?

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01:52 - 02:54

Ellen Lamkey

When I interview someone, I always ask them what they want to do or where they see themselves in five years from now. Do you see yourself being a nurse, in-home healthcare, in a different field other than just long term care and most of them have never been asked that question before. You put that in their mind when you first interview them and then they're like, oh, you mean I can do that? So it builds up their confidence and there is room to move up in the company. So you're not just hired for an entry level position. We're trying to hire you for a career and start that career off.

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02:54 - 03:26

Doug Bryant

So at Island Home, what I'm hearing is you've been able to use the benefit of being able to provide education and additional education to help, kind of, I guess as you're going out there fishing for new talent to real those people in. Yeah, a little bit and let them know that this doesn't have to be this could literally be just the beginning. I know one thing is I was looking back at some of the statistics at Island Home and what you all have been able to do is you all had how many just graduate nursing school?

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03:26 - 03:34

Ellen Lamkey

In December we had three that graduated nursing school. I still have one, two, three, four that are in nursing school.

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03:34 - 03:49

Doug Bryant

So these were not people that came to you as nurses. You were able to use the benefits that your company offers and send them back. How many of those? I guess seven almost were not even CNAs when they came to you.

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03:49 - 04:28

Ellen Lamkey

Probably about half of them. They started out in either housekeeping or dietary, and you can just tell by looking at someone and watching them interact. I want that person who has a love and compassion in their heart for our elderly population. Those are the people you're like, wow, you could really grow and become a nurse, become a doctor if that's what you want to be. And we are here to help you. Not everybody has to be the traditional out of high school straight to college, but not everybody has that opportunity. And that's okay. We are here to help you grow. So.

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04:28 - 05:05

Doug Bryant

So the people that are interviewing to be CNAs and you've been able to upskill them into nurses and things like that, that's one thing. But that intuition that you have to be able to just watch someone work inside your building. What are the top three things that you're looking for when you see housekeepers or dietary folk out in the community that you're operating? What are those three things that really stick out for you? That's like, that's somebody I need to go talk to, and I think I really could utilize them in the clinical aspect of what we do here.

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05:05 - 05:58

Ellen Lamkey

Just watch them interact with the elderly person. Are they afraid? Are they caring? Are they trying to be empathetic with them? It's just the little things like, let me help you set up your tray. Let me make sure that you have all of your meat cut up. Oh, is that too big of a bite? We'll do it smaller or they can even come to me later and say, hey, I think they're having trouble swallowing or something. “Thank you for telling me. And we'll look into that.” They have that desire to learn more and you can tell in their eyes, like they really know that they're making a difference for someone. And that is huge in their life and in the lives of our residents. So it's just how they talk to us. And it's nothing major, but you can tell that there is a desire or a spark in there that makes them want to do better.

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05:58 - 06:26

Doug Bryant

So I'm sure as you've approached people, you've probably gotten every answer back when you've talked to them and be like, hey, I want you to come back in for us, and we would love to send you back to school or provide education for that. I'm sure some of those are very comical. The answers that you've gotten, and it's not for everyone, which we know. Just as an aside here, what was the one of the maybe funniest responses you ever got when you approach someone?

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06:26 - 07:40

Ellen Lamkey

One of our seniors said, “I absolutely will never go back to school.” So what we did was I kept watching her and she was so good with her patients. She always puts them at ease. She brought her dad into the facility, as a patient. We were talking, and I was like, your daughter would make an excellent nurse.

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And she had won, caregiver of the year through the Alzheimer's Association. Her dad and I talked during that luncheon, and, the next day at work, she said. So you talked to my dad in the background, didn't you? I was like, yes, ma'am, I did. She's like, I cannot believe you got him on your side. I was like, it didn't take much.

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So she's like, he's helping me go back to school. I'm applying to go back to school. She is, to this day, one of the best nurses that we have. Excellent nurse. And when her father came back to our facility later on as a patient again, he kept saying thank you for pushing her to be there to support her. So she is such a great nurse now, but it's getting their families involved too. That's a hey, we can help you and watch them grow. It's great. It's like watching your kids grow. You get so proud of seeing what these people can do.

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07:40 - 09:28

Doug Bryant

Yeah, well, that's a great point that you said to get the families involved because, you know, not everyone that comes through the programs at the Mason Center are even affiliated with a healthcare company at the time. And, you know, anybody that's listening today that has recognized any of these attributes and the people that are in your households or those that work in your family, I know people in my family.

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I tell them all the time, I'm like, why are you not working in healthcare? We need people like you in healthcare. And most of the time the family members that I talk to, it's more of a financial issue that they can't afford to go back or a timing issue where and you all do something really interesting in the partnership that you have with the Mason Center, where some of the people that you all have sent, there are so many classes have not even been employees of yours yet, like there are people that applied to come to class with us here at the Mason Center. And for whatever reason, when we're talking about financial options, you all are Hillcrest as a healthcare partner with us, and you all provide sponsorships.

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And then they in turn give you a certain number of years of service for them through the course. So if anybody out there knows someone in your family that maybe wants to get into healthcare, wants a stepping stone into the industry and really doesn't know where to start, sending them to the Mason Center would be a great introduction to that, certainly. And we can introduce them to healthcare partners like yourselves. And it may just work out where you all can actually pay for that certain education for them. And that really set them up for not only just CNA work, but then going to be a medication aid. Or through what you all have with South College being able to go advanced into nursing.

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09:28 - 09:32

Ellen Lamkey

If that's what they prefer, if that's what they want.

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Mid-Roll

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09:54 - 10:11

Ellen Lamkey

The older we get, the more experience we get of our desires and wants change. And what we think that we can do changes. And some people never thought it was possible for them to become a caregiver and then become a nurse. And now they're like, oh, I can do that. I think I can help. And that's what we're there for is to help them. Yeah.

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10:15 - 10:48

Doug Bryant

And honestly, it's kind of full circle that you're here today talking to me, at the Mason center. Because the reason, one of the reasons that, even the Hillcrest Foundation, thought about birthing an education center was because one of your employees, Chloe Hurst. Who actually, during Covid-19 was an Activities Assistant. And had a desire to be able to help more than she was. Can you tell me a little bit about Chloe and about that story of how she became a CNA?

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10:48 - 12:12

Ellen Lamkey

Chloe is an excellent example. She started, like you said, in activities, just her demeanor, just the way she talked to the residents, the way she cared about them was wonderful. We talked to her about, hey, you know, have you ever thought of going back to school? No. Not really. I've never had the financial opportunity because, let's face it, the economy is not the absolute easiest, for people to not work a full time job and still make it.

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So we're like, yeah, we can help you with that. She went to school, became a CNA. Excellent CNA. Her residents adore her. Then we're like, when are you going back to school? In our yearly evaluations? That is one question I kind of put into all the yearly evaluations. So what's your next step? What do you see yourself wanting to do? She's like, well, I don't know if I could be a nurse. I was like, you really could be. You're smart enough to. So she went to school. She graduated in December, from LPN school, and she is now training and waiting to get her test date for her LPN license. And she's going to work about six months there and then go back to RN school because now she wants to be in RN. That to me is seeing how she's come from entry level all the way up. She will be an excellent nurse.

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12:12 - 13:15

Doug Bryant

So let's do the math here, because if I have my numbers correctly, Chloe came to you in 2019, which was the year before Covid. Yes. So 2019. She's still there.  In 2020. When Covid happens to all of us the way it did.  And that's when she really wanted to do something more. The foundation was able to pay for her education. And now we've just started 2025. So six years later, you're still working with Chloe. Chloe is still working at your facility all because of a conversation you had with her about the possibilities that she would have and has a completely different career. And that is exactly why we were founded to give people a career path, to give them career development. And how has the Mason Center been able to help you do that?

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13:15 - 14:16

Ellen Lamkey

Well, during Covid, we had a serious issue with lack of CNAs and nurses, but we were able to take some of our entry level positions and encourage them to go to a CNA class. They were able then to come back and work with us. It helped so much to have them already in the system per se. They know the facility, they know the resident. Then when they go to class, it is wonderful that they can come back and do their clinicals with us and then step into that role as CNA. We have several that go through the South College program for LPNs. They come back and do clinicals at our facility too. And it's that continuity of care and also that continuity of care that we have to help them if they have trouble with homework. If your instructor can't seem to help you understand, bring it to us. We'll help you. There's lots of nurses there that will help them.

14:16 - 14:37

Doug Bryant

So it's not a mistake for me that, you know, any long term care company that wants to put their own CNA program together can do so. The state has always allowed them to be able to do that. Of course. Some of the benefits, I think, that you all have been able to reap about partnering with the Mason center is that those programs are under extreme scrutiny when it comes to surveys.

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14:37 - 16:07

Doug Bryant

You know, one of the first questions that they ask when they come in to serve is, do you have a CNA program which opens you up to more even regulatory survey issues? Yes. During that survey, when, let's just be honest, surveys are stressful enough without having to add another layer of concern. And they look at things when it's your program.

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If Island Home has their own CNA program, they're going to look at your pass rates. You have to make sure that everybody you're putting through and from the way that the Mason center operates them, one benefit of you all being partners with us is we bear the burden of those pass fail rates. So that does not reflect on the facility.

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You don't have to worry about getting that letter that says, hey, you've had this many CNAs and only this many have passed the test. And the other thing is just the staffing and manpower of having someone to teach that class for six weeks and taking them out of their other job when you're already dealing with staff shortages to begin with. You need your nurses doing resident care and managing quality assurance programs. I'm sure and not in a classroom. There are many benefits, I think, that companies can reap by partnering with a place like the Mason Center for Healthcare Education to fulfill those education needs, and still be able to provide a career path and career development for their employees.

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16:07 - 16:47

Ellen Lamkey

And another thing I have noticed with the Mason Center is you don't just do the minimum clinical hours, you it's not the minimum. You are going above and beyond doing more clinical hours to give them more experience. So that way when they come to us after schooling, they are better prepared. And that and that to me says a lot, when the instructors come over and they go around with the students, it's more of a one on one, add atmosphere for them. Plus they have so much more knowledge at the, at the end. So I appreciate that.

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16:47 - 16:50

Doug Bryant

Well, I thank you for that. Our instructors do an incredible job.

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16:50 - 16:52

Ellen Lamkey

They do

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00:16:52:12 - 00:17:17:00

Doug Bryant

And instructing as I can hear them doing that actually right now around the room. So we've had Chloe, we've had numerous others, Sarah, some names come to mind that have come through the Mason Center. We've got three of yours right now. We are super excited to have this partnership with you all. And thank you so much for coming on today.

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17:17 - 17:18

Ellen Lamkey

Thank you.

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17:18 - 17:23

Doug Bryant

And this has been Certify It from the Mason Center for Healthcare Education.

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Outro

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Certify It by the Mason Center for Healthcare Education. Get connected with us on social media and at the masoncenterknox.com. If you haven't yet, subscribe to this podcast on YouTube and anywhere you get your podcast. And if you're interested in sponsorship or donations to help further our cause of providing affordable, flexible healthcare certification programs for individuals seeking career mobility in skilled nursing, senior living, and long term care fields. Visit the masoncenterknox.com.

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