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Spirit Cooper

D’Asia Butler

Spirit Cooper and D’Asia Butler of Bethel High School pass certification exam for Certified Nurse Aide

Spirit Cooper and D’Asia Butler, students in the Governor’s Health Sciences Academy (GHSA) and after-school Nurse Aide Program, recently completed and passed the Virginia Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) program.
D'Asia Butler is a Hampton City GHSA senior who also attends the Governor’s School at New Horizons Regional Education Center. D'Asia started the after-school Nurse Aide Program last school year and luckily completed her clinical work at The Chesapeake prior to COVID-19 causing everything to shut down. She was originally scheduled to have taken the exam last May but COVID-19 halted testing.

“These students have shown resilience keeping up with their studies and skills practice to pass the Certified Nurse Aide Exam in Virginia,” said Kathleen May, coordinator of the nurse aide program. “They have put in many hours outside of usual course work to succeed.”

Students take a 60 question written knowledge test that is timed and also take a random selection skills exam. Five skills are selected out of 22 skills and the students must score a 100% on the skills portion. No errors are acceptable. After passing this exam students are Certified Nurse Aides in Virginia and can obtain employment as a CNA. CNA can also be a prerequisite for certain University Programs of Study.

Spirit Cooper said, “One thing I can definitely say is that I’m grateful Bethel offered this class giving other students and me the opportunity to obtain a career straight out of high school. The program is extremely informative and is exactly what students who seek healthcare jobs at Bethel should start with. It really does teach the foundation for which healthcare is based on. I really hope other schools with academies can offer programs related to them like the CNA program. I encourage students to do this program as well especially since Bethel pays for all the expenses. Not to mention how fun it is, it was an amazing experience.”

May stated that the after-school Nurse Aide Program began several years ago at Bethel. She said it is thriving and the class is currently full. Students are completing their clinic at The Chesapeake in the Assisted Living and Memory Care Centers. They are projecting to have 10 more HCS GHSA Bethel Nurse Aide completers by the end of May 2021.