KSU's College of Continuing Education Expands Healthcare Offerings

The College of Continuing and Professional Education at Kennesaw State University has expanded their healthcare programs to incorporate daytime classes: Certified Nursing Assistant and Pharmacy Technician. Elizabeth Tanner, healthcare program manager, said the new format provides more options for those interested in the healthcare field.

“Certified Nursing Assistant and Pharmacy Tech are growing fields,” she said. “Our instructors are all working in these respective fields. Having daytime and evening courses allows more opportunities for people to learn from these healthcare professionals.”

Certified nursing assistants work in long-term care facilities and hospitals. Gathering vital signs, learning body systems, disease and infection control, and legal and ethical issues are among the learning objectives in the CNA course. This course also satisfies the requirements to sit for the state certification exam.

The daytime class incorporates lecture and hands-on training in a combination classroom skills-lab setting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. four days a week. This newly renovated area features nursing home stations and state-of-the-art equipment for skills practice. Three clinical sessions will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at an off-site location.

“The clinical sessions involve a partnership with a local healthcare facility where our students will be able to interact with certified nursing assistants and apply the skills they learned in the classroom,” Tanner said. “This component of program makes the learning experience extremely valuable for our CNA students.”

Skills development, prescription processing, dosage forms and customer service are many of the components of the college’s Pharmacy Technician daytime certificate program. Classes are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. three days a week.

Registered pharmacists will teach and provide hands-on training in the classroom, and a pharmacy tour is included. This certificate program will train students to work in a hospital or retail setting and help prepare them for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam.

“We receive multiple job listings from pharmacies in the area seeking our graduates,” Tanner said. “The opportunities for advancement in the pharmacy field are tremendous.”

For more information on the daytime healthcare certificate programs, visit ccpe.kennesaw.edu, email cehealthcare@kennesaw.edu, or call 470-578-6765.