VALDOSTA — The Valdosta Technical College’s Office of Business and Industry Services will be offering certified nurse’s assistant training at the Hudson Dockett Community Center. The program will be held from Friday, Feb. 18, to Monday, March 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The program will be open to anyone over the age of 16 and is certified by the state, so that those who complete the program will be fully qualified to work as a CNA.

Sarina Mullis, the health care specialist coordinator at Valdosta Tech, said that the program will focus on old-age care, but those who complete the program could go on to work for doctors, hospitals, home health care firms and hospices.

“(Students) will basically learn how to assist nurses with the daily needs of patients like feeding, bathing, infection control, oral care and vital signs,” said Mullis.

The program will consist of an intensive training regimen, squeezing the required 92 hours of training and 16 hours of clinical work into just three weeks. “We can do it quickly, but the training will be the exact program that we use to train CNAs across the state,” said Mullis.

Mullis points out that graduates of the program will also be CPR certified. Potential students will not need to have a high school diploma or GED.

Mark Stalvey, executive director of the Valdosta Housing Authority, welcomes the program. “This is a joint effort between the Housing Authority and the technical school. This is a great opportunity for education, and its an opportunity for some of our residents to fulfill their community service requirements,” said Stalvey. “Valdosta Tech wanted to get involved with bringing these courses back into the community and the people.”

The department of Housing and Urban Development requires all public housing residents under the age of 55 who do not go to school or work full-time to complete eight hours of community service per month. The CNA training program satisfies that requirement.

For information on the CNA training program, or to sign up for the program, please call the Valdosta Technical College’s Office of Business and Industry Services at 333-2122.