Nursing a desire to help
Molly Shore
Female residents at Beverly Manor Health Care are faced with a
decision -- what color nail polish to choose for their manicures.
Once they decide, their nails are filed, cleaned and polished by
students enrolled in the adult Regional Occupational Program nursing
assistant class at the health-care facility.
It’s an extra service to help bolster the spirits of the women,
many of whom are confined to wheelchairs.
The students, who are enrolled in the program through the Burbank
Adult School, learn how to shower and dress the residents, as well as
make their beds and get them ready for meals.
“The facility becomes our community classroom ... allowing us to
come in and work with the residents,” said instructor Marla Keeth
Ghazarian, who is a licensed vocational nurse.
Patients have the option to decline the students’ help, but Evelyn
Molek, 70, is happy with the service.
“I like all of them. They are very friendly, very polite and very
nice,” she said.
Molek, who has arthritis and cannot walk, has been a resident at
Beverly Health Care for three years.
“I’d be alone if I was home because my daughter works,” she said.
“This is a very nice place to be. This is like family.”
Ghazarian’s students accumulate 80 hours of classroom study and
120 hours of floor time before receiving their certificates and
becoming eligible to qualify for state certification.
Chester Cervania, 18, enrolled in the course because he wants to
learn proper skills, and help the elderly become more independent, he
said.
When he graduates, Cervania will continue his education at Los
Angeles Trade Technical College to become a licensed vocational
nurse, while working as a nursing assistant.
“Everybody who is available to work gets jobs,” Keith said of the
field.
Nursing assistants are employed in nursing hospitals, registries,
private duty and acute care hospitals, she said.
The next class begins Feb. 3, and there is still time to enroll.
For information on this program, call Ghazarian at 843-2330.