Training the next generation of health workers

[image]

Students list the pros and cons of working in long term care as part of Tanya Jensen's Health Occupations class at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Senior High School. (MPR Photo/Chris Welsch)

The median age in Todd County is about 39 -- 3 years older than Minnesota as a whole. But the employees at the Long Prairie nursing home skew much older.

Among the nurses there, the average age is 50. That means a good number of them will be retiring in the next decade.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

"We are going to run into a labor shortage," Administrator Dan Swenson said.

In response, CentraCare Health System, which runs the hospital and the nursing home, has partnered with the local high school to conduct a class called Health Occupations.

Students spend most of the course shadowing practitioners -- doctors, nurses, dentists and even veterinarians.

"You get a more hands-on experience instead of just getting to read it in a book," said student Amber Bense, an 18-year-old from Burtrum.

The class is in its fifth year, and there is always a waiting list for the 12 seats available.

"It's a booming field," teacher Tanya Jensen told the class recently. "There is a high demand for long term care providers. So if that's something you're interested in, you will have a lot of job security."

Four of the students in the class already work in long term care as certified nursing assistants. But most of the students doubt they will stay in central Minnesota, let alone Long Prairie.

"There's nothing to do in this town," student Ashley Bakke said. "It's little, and it's boring."

Some students said they would like to end up in Alexandria or St. Cloud. But only Maria Montanez planned to return to Long Prairie after college.

"All of my family's here," said Montanez, whose parents came to the area to work in meat packing and now own a Mexican clothing and jewelery store in town. "In my culture we're all pretty close. So I'd want to be close. I wouldn't want to be far away."

Montanez would rather work in the hospital than the nursing home, but that's still good news for Swenson, who runs them both.

"If we can get one individual out of that class to go into health care and come back here, it's a success," he said.