INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The workforce development nonprofit New Bridge Cleveland has joined forces with the Central School of Practical Nursing. The school, located in Independence, will soon be relocating Downtown Cleveland to Superior Avenue. Administrators said the merger will help bring trauma-informed skills to students, creating better-prepared future caregivers.
Nursing isn’t for the faint of heart in many ways. Central School of Practical Nursing student Alesia Watley thrives under pressure but also craves a deeper purpose.
“The biggest thing you think of when you get older is, 'What legacy do I want to leave?” said Watey
Another student, Tracy Kuhnbevington, wants to make an emotional impact in hospice care.
“Bringing in some awareness and some education and compassion to that area might make that transition smoother for other people,” Kuhnbevington.
Whichever field students from the latest CSPN class want to enter after graduation, Associate Dean Erin Slay DNP, MHA, RN, said the nonprofit New Bridge Cleveland acquiring the school will prepare students even more for the workforce.
“We know we have a very strong program,” Slay said.
New Bridge Cleveland is a nonprofit workforce organization that has trained healthcare workers in northeast Ohio since 2010. The acquisition with CSPN has plans to strengthen technical skill training with social-emotional learning for students to foster resilience and adaptability in high-stress environments, including job placement.
“My biggest goal is to be an entry point for every student when you come to New Bridge,” said Bethany Friedlander, president and CEO of New Bridge Cleveland. “Our programs are shorter, 10 weeks, and you're out and working. Central School you’re 11 months, but there’s also differences in the wages. So, we want to make sure each student has the right place to enter. The right place to exit and, to a certain extent, be able to stack those opportunities.”
Healthcare is still recovering from the nursing fallout of 2020, when nearly 100,000 nurses left their jobs. However, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing predicts the nursing workforce will grow by 6% in the next decade. CSPN students aren’t discouraged by the current job market but are rather motivated.
“Exciting, we are the next unit in,” said Vernon Houston, a CSPN student. “So, we have to pick up where everyone left off and continue to grow the field, be compassionate and give it your all.”
The merger gives students even more confidence to hit the ground running and never look back.
“I feel like with enough of us and more of us getting out there and being prepared, most of all, that’s the big key of being prepared, and having the resources, I feel like if we were to say something so catastrophic again we will be ready,” Watley added.
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