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NSB Trainers teaching next generation of nurses in CAN BE incubator

October 15, 2007
For more information contact Precision Design, 570-455-3533

WEST HAZLETON -A new area business is preparing students for one of the fastest growing job markets in the country today. And they’re doing it with the help of Greater Hazleton’s business incubator program, the Community Association for New Business Entrepreneurship, or CAN BE.

NSB Trainers is teaching area men and women the necessary skills to become Certified Nurses Aides (CNA). The private school enterprise is fully licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education Nurse Aide Division to teach the Nurse Aide Competency course.  

According to recent data from the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics, nursing will be one of the most in demand career paths over the next five years, with an estimated 600,000 new nursing positions opening nationwide by 2012.

Master’s prepared Registered nurses Bernice Platek and Sharon Schneider own and operate NSB Trainers. They opened the new company in the Greater Hazleton Business Innovation Center in February in response to a growing need within the community.

“Before launching NSB Trainers, both Sharon and I taught Nurse Aide Competency classes in the area. We decided to pursue a private school licensure in order to teach at a location that was conducive to teaching theoretical and laboratory instruction on-site, ” Platek said. “We started NSB Trainers to offer the classes more often and at different times so that more people could receive the training they needed to begin careers in nursing.”

NSB Trainers is a 100-hour course consisting of 50 hours of classroom/laboratory instruction at the Greater Hazleton Business Innovation Center and 50 hours of clinical instruction at St. Luke Manor, Hazleton. The classes are held part-time over a five-week period. Students are taught the “activities of daily living” skills they will need in the workplace, such as patient feeding, bed bathing, taking and recording vital signs, and transferring patients from beds to wheelchairs.

The course costs $755 dollars for tuition and books with fees such as student liability insurance, criminal background checks and the cost of the American Red Cross competency test given upon successful completion of the course. Platek explained, however, that almost all of these costs are reimbursable.

“Once a CNA takes employment in a facility that is enrolled in a Medicare/Medicaid program, and works 260 hours, that facility must reimburse the cost of the training and the cost of the American Red Cross nurse aide competency test. Federal law prohibits these charges from being imposed on the student.  So the class is practically free if you complete and get your certification,” she said. 

Platek added that CNAs are more in demand in Northeastern Pennsylvania than many other regions. “Our area is highly populated with elderly who need skilled CNAs to take care of them either short term or long term. Nursing is a growth career market overall, and it is particularly growing in our area, which makes it a solid career choice.”

Schneider then explained that CNAs are paid more than personal care aides. CNA’s seek employment in long-term care facilities/nursing homes and need CNA training and certification to qualify for employment. She estimated that a CNA makes about $11 to $17 an hour in the area for taking and completing the 100-hour course and passing the American Red Cross competency exam.

“It’s a win-win situation. The students get qualified training, enter a job market where there is a need, start at a good pay scale and even get their tuition reimbursed,” Platek said.

Platek and Schneider began developing the curriculum in July 2006 based upon their prior teaching experience. The pair followed state guidelines in developing the program of study.

With a solid business plan, expertise in their field and a training model in place, the duo lacked only a location to launch their new business.

“We thought a business incubator might be a good place to start NSB Trainers. A friend suggested we contact CAN BE, and it completely fit our needs,” Schneider said.

CAN BE, a wholly owned subsidiary of CAN DO, Inc., was created to help local entrepreneurs like Platek and Schneider turn their ideas into successful businesses able to function on their own. In doing so, CAN BE helps establish new business and industry for Greater Hazleton.

CAN BE operates the Greater Hazleton Business Innovation Center. The business incubator is located in a state-approved Keystone Innovation Zone, or KIZ, meaning that businesses locating in the CAN BE incubator will be eligible for preferential treatment for some state programs and may also be awarded resellable tax credits.

As a member of CAN BE’s incubator program, NSB Trainers can spend less time worrying about things like rent, office equipment and furniture and spend more time building their business. The incubator program offers a number of cost-saving benefits that typically hamper a start-up’s development, including affordable lease rates, shared business and office equipment, and managerial assistance.

“Anything we need, CAN BE takes care of for us. Everyone has been great. When we needed a door, they put a door in for us. When we needed to expand to more space, they accommodated us. They have done everything they can to help us get NSB Trainers started,” Platek added.

Another benefit of the incubator program is access to dozens of area business professionals who freely offer their assistance as mentors in fields like accounting, marketing, banking and business law.

“All of the mentors associated with CAN BE are happy to lend our experience and knowledge to the businesses in the incubator. Our goal is to help these companies get started and become successful, which leads to new businesses and new jobs for the area,” said CAN BE Executive Director Jack St. Pierre.

Call Bernice Platek at 570-453-7241 or CAN BE at 570-455-8334 for more information on NSB Trainers or to sign up for the next CNA training class.

CAN BE is a fully functional incubator program operated out of the Greater Hazleton Business Innovation Center. CAN BE is funded in part by grants from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania and PPL Electric Utilities. Penn State Hazleton is an education partner of CAN BE. If you have an idea for a new business or would like to know more about the incubator program, contact CAN BE or visit them online at www.canbe.biz.