Project Summary

The Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce and the Mississippi Hospital Association collaborated with health care providers and colleges in Jackson and McComb to grow the skills of non-clinical frontline staff from dietary, transportation, and environmental services departments.

~
“Jobs to Careers allows us to take good hospital employees and utilize them in new roles.
They already have a broad knowledge of the hospital, so their orientation time is greatly
decreased. The program allows people to get college credit, so that enhances the group
that chooses to train, and it helps us with the hardest part of staffing:
finding the right people for the right jobs.”
—Jacque Andrews, R.N., Director of Education, Central Mississippi Medical Center
~

In Jackson, the Central Mississippi Medical Center and Hinds Community College are training non-clinical frontline staff for unit clerk positions. Hinds restructured its unit clerk curriculum to fit the mold of work-based learning. The medical center set aside one day a week for paid time off so workers could complete their training. Workers spent time in different units of the hospital to get hands-on experience in the unit clerk role.

In McComb, Southwest Mississippi Regional Center partnered with Southwest Community College to train frontline workers on a range of job readiness skills. The goal was to improve their performance in their current jobs and prepare them to take on other positions in the event of layoffs because the project was undertaken during tough economic times. The workers attended a two-hour class for twelve weeks.

In both locations, supervisors were trained as mentors and preceptors.

Training Outcomes

  • 50 workers received training.
  • Jackson: 7 workers earned college credit and a certificate; 6 workers were promoted to unit clerk positions, resulting in wage increases of $2 to $3 per hour
  • McComb: 25 workers completed job readiness training.

Benefits to Frontline Employees

  • In both facilities, frontline workers have moved into jobs with higher salaries.
  • In both facilities, workers have had an opportunity to be a part of college classes, and several have enrolled in for-credit courses.

Benefits to Employers

  • Each hospital has reported a stronger commitment from workers participating in the training project.
  • Staff are higher-skilled, more well-rounded, and more willing to take on new roles.
  • Staff satisfaction has risen overall.

Changes to Institutional Practice

  • Hinds Community College grants college credit for a course in the unit clerk curriculum.