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On Tuesday, November 15, 2016, 1199 nurses from throughout Connecticut gathered for the Training Fund’s 5^th Annual Nurses Conference.  The theme for the day was “Nurses as Leaders.”  Presentations and workshop topics included:

• New and Resistant Organisms: A Focus on the Long Term Care Environment
• Confident Decision Making: Critical Thinking Skills for LTC Nurses
• How to Overcome Communication Challenges
• Secrets of Living a Stress Free Life

Comments afterwards included:

• “The conference is great. Don’t change anything!”
• “It was very informative—I attend every year and I always learn good techniques to take back to work.”
• “It is very educational, informative, and relaxing. It takes me away from the day’s stress and reenergizes me.”
• “I went to school through the Union’s Training Fund. I am always invited to the conference and I feel honored to always attend!”

Comments on the workshops:

• Secrets of Living a Stress Free Life: “Amazing!  This workshop has invigorated energy in me that I never knew I possessed.  I am grateful!”
• How to Overcome Communication Challenges: “Great skills to have. This should be available to everyone who works in human services.”
• Critical Thinking: “I was introduced to the awareness of making important decisions and handling our feelings during crisis situations.”
  

On Tuesday, October 18 over 200 1199 members, Union leaders, and guests attended the 14^th Annual Training Fund Conference in Cromwell, CT. The theme of the day was “Raise the Bar: The Future is Now” and all in attendance took this theme very seriously.  There was a keynote panel entitled “Living Well, Today!” and conference participants chose between the following workshops throughout the day:

• Roadmap to Wellbeing
• Build a Play
• Get Fit!
• Virtual Dementia Tour
• The Healthcare workforce: Opportunities and Challenges
• Food as Medicine

Here is what our members had to say about the conference:

• “I had a great experience.  While we’re busy caring for others, we forget to take care of ourselves.”
• “It gets better and better each year!”
• “The conference is always interesting and educational.  Everyone is warm and friendly.”
• “There is a whole universe out there to discover.  The conference lets us reconnect and reenergize.”
• “Every year I plan ahead…I request the day off to come because this is my favorite day of the year!”

On Tuesday evening June 14, 2016 the Training Fund recognized 54 nursing home members of 1199 who have graduated during the 2015-2016 school year at the annual Graduation Recognition Ceremony.  Family, friends, co-workers, and Union officials gathered to offer best wishes to this year’s graduates. Members earned High School Diplomas, Certificates, Associate’s Degrees, Bachelor’s Degrees, and Master’s Degrees!

Congratulations to all of this year’s graduates who have worked long and hard to achieve their goals!

Speakers at this year’s graduation included:

Althea Mitchell Blake, Kimberly Hall South, High School Diploma

Amdrilla Erskine, Touchpoints at Bloomfield, EKG Technician

Uel Benjamin, Greensprings Health & Rehabilitation, EKG Technician

Bonnie Gaudreau, Davis Place, LPN

Sandra McLaughlin, Kimberly Hall South, Associate’s Degree-Science

Pauline Dunchie-Legg, Greensprings Health & Rehabilitation, Associate’s Degree-Science

1199 Members earned diplomas, certificates, and degrees in the following this year:

High School Diploma

Certificates

• Certified Nursing Assistant
• Phlebotomy Certification
• Culinary Arts/Professional Baker
• EKG Technician
• Healthcare Sciences
• Life Coaching
• Long-term Care Certificate
• Occupational Therapy Assistant
• Therapeutic Recreation

Nursing

• Nursing-LPN
• Nursing-RN (Associate’s Degree)
• Nursing-RN (Bachelor’s Degree)

Associate’s Degree

• Arts
• Science
• Social Services

Bachelor’s Degree

• Business Administration
• Healthcare Sciences
• Sociology

Master’s Degree

• Business Administration

1199 Nursing Home Workers Tell Their Story in New Publication

On Thursday, May 12, 2016 close to 100 1199 members, staff, friends and family joined to congratulate 1199 members who recently had their stories published in “Caring: 1199 Nursing Home Workers Tell Their Story” by Hardball Press. Fifty-three stories were published in this new collection. Themes included work, family, immigration, the Union, and more.  The book is available from the Training Fund office, at www.HardBallPress.com or at www.Amazon.com

CAPITAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATES

STUDENTS FROM NEW EKG TECH COURSE

Last spring Capital Community College debuted a new course, EKG (Electrocardiogram) Technician. Run through the college’s School of Workforce and Continuing Education, the 63 hour course meets two evenings a week and prepares students to be employed in hospitals, laboratories or cardiologists’ offices.

This week, graduates of the Fall 2015 EKG Technician course were recognized. All twelve are health care workers who are members of District 1199, New England Healthcare Employees Union, and were sponsored by the 1199 Training and Upgrading Fund. Each year hundreds of unionized nursing home workers make use of the Fund to take adult ed programs, attend college or receive training at their workplace. The EKG course completion rate was 92%.

EKG Technicians specialize in electrocardiogram testing of patients. By attaching electrodes to the patient’s chest, arms and legs, EKG Technicians use EKG machines to monitor the heart’s performance. Data captured by EKG Technicians assists doctors in diagnosing heart conditions. Projected job growth in this field is expected to increase by 22% over the next ten years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Health and Life Sciences Career Initiative grant (HL-SCI) funded the new EKG program at Capital. It is one of three new programs that have been paid for and developed thanks to the grant. The HL-SCI grant team worked with Ruth Krems, Capital’s Coordinator of Nurse Aide Certification, and industry partners and experts to develop the program. The EKG program was evaluated for college credit by Charter Oak State College’s CCAP (Connecticut Credit Assessment Program), and has been awarded 3 college credits.

2015 Nursing Conference

“This conference opened my eyes to new ideas!”

Over 60 nurses from throughout Connecticut attended

the 3^rd annual Nursing Conference on November 17, 2015 in

Cromwell, CT.  The conference theme was “Nurses as Leaders”

and workshops included:

Caring for Residents with Mental Illness

Pain—Assessment/Management

Self-Care Strategies for Caregivers

Close to 200 1199 members attended the 13^th Annual Training Fund Conference (formerly the CNA Conference) on Tuesday, October 13.  Here are a few things that members had to say about the conference:

“I’m an 1199 member and there wasn’t anywhere I would have rather been today!”

“I attend every year and every year I learn something new!”

“I found it very inspiring.”

“This was my first year at the conference and I felt like I belong.”

“Every year this is a day I take just for myself.”

“It is exciting, educational, insightful, and enjoyable!”

Workshops this year included:

•   The Skin Care Fair
• Caring for Residents with Mental Illness
• Financial Skills for Working Families
• Secrets to Living a Low Stress Life
• Get Fit!
• Write the Workplace: Creative Writing

Hundreds of family, friends, co-workers, and Union leaders came together at the 2015 Training Fund graduation on Tuesday, June 16 to congratulate the 45 1199NE members who graduated in the course of 2014-2015.  Members earned their high school diplomas, certificates, Associate’s Degrees, Bachelor’s Degrees, and Master’s Degrees with the help of the Training Fund.  Speakers at this year’s graduation included:

Linford James, High School Diploma, Maple View Manor, Rocky Hill

Lurline Mullings, Long-term Care Certificate Program, Saint Mary Home, West Hartford

Dorothy Warner, Long-term Care Certificate Program, Chelsea Place, Hartford

Ian Fraser, Associate’s Degree-Nursing, Silver Springs Care Center, Meriden

Antoinette Osei-Bonsu, Bachelor’s Degree-Accounting, Fresh River Healthcare, East Windsor

Tanya Beckford, Bachelor’s Degree-Human Services, Newington Rapid Recovery Rehab Center

1199NE members Sharon Benjamin and Advira Linton had their stories published in “With Our Loving Hands.”  On December 11, 2014, 1199NE members, family, and friends came together to celebrate the recent publication of “With Our Loving Hands” by Hardball Press.  Fifty 1199 nursing home members had their stories published in this collection. The book is available at www.hardballpress.com or www.amazon.com   

 “In this book nursing home workers who care for the elderly and infirm tell their stories. These essential caregivers are too often ignored or disrespected. Yet their stories show us how their challenging work is so often motivated by love. Family members and friends who are admitted for long term care and perhaps, for the last stage of life, are comforted by these courageous workers whose loving hands hold them in their long, lonely night.”

 Tim Sheard, Editor, Hard Ball Press.

Over 80 nurses from throughout Connecticut attended the Training Fund’s 3^rd Annual Nursing conference on Wednesday, November 19, 2014.  The conference theme was “Nurses as Leaders” and workshops included:

• Being a coaching Leader
• Nursing Assessment 101
• Critical Thinking and Time Management
• How to Write the Perfect Nursing Notes

Comments from conference participants included:

•  “It touched every issue that I deal with on a daily basis.  Thank you!”
• “I got to hear what’s happening in the field, and it gave me some incentive to think about what my next move will be.”
• “It was very informative.  The subjects directly related to my job.”
• “The workshops drew my attention to little things that are sometimes neglected, but make a lot of difference in the lives of our residents.”