Graduate recognized; Mercy program allows participants to explore career opportunities.

Chip Pridley (center) holds the certificate of completion presented to him at Mercy's School at Work graduation ceremony on March 20. Also pictured are Dale Cation (left), Mercy director of maintenance and engineering and Reta Baker (right), Mercy Hospital president.(Submitted Photo)

Vonley "Chip" Pridley is Mercy Hospital's second graduate of the School at Work program, instituted in July 2010.

The nine-month program partners a Mercy co-worker with a mentor to help the SAW participant explore career opportunities within Mercy and facilitate growth both professionally and personally.

It also provides participants with the skills to move ahead, either by going back to school or seeking a promotion within the hospital. SAW participants choose to move ahead in one of four career ladders: nursing, allied clinical, clerical and support services.

SAW is an opportunity for Mercy to "grow" its workforce and to increase diversity in nursing, allied clinical and front-line leadership positions.

Mercy administration congratulates Pridley on his accomplishment, a news release said.

"It (the coursework), really focuses on trying to advance the students in the health care field," Pridley said. "I gained skills on how to communicate better in the work force, improved my writing skills and learned medical terminology, too."

Currently an environmental service tech at Mercy Hospital, Pridley is now planning to earn a certified nurse assistant license and work in the home health field.

"Anybody wanting to improve their work-related skills should consider taking the course," Pridley said. "I really enjoy working with Mercy and I'd like to continue working here as I pursue a clinical career path."

"This is often the first step for some of our co-workers in creating a career plan," said Linda Noll, Mercy executive director of human resources. "In most cases, the SAW program allows our co-workers to gain confidence in their work environment, in study skills useful for future training and exposure to other departments through job shadowing."

Managers at other Mercy locations that offer SAW have reported improvements in confidence, attitude, job performance and fewer attendance issues. There is no cost to the employee or the department.

Although the program does not guarantee a promotion, on average 17 percent of SAW students are promoted to a higher level position within 90 days of completing the program.

School at Work is a workforce development system provided to increase job advancement, retention and career development for entry- level workers. By providing SAW to interested and qualified entry-level workers, SAW places emphasis on retention and advancement of entry-level personnel into clinical, clerical and support roles.

"We appreciate John Bennett, SAW facilitator, for volunteering his time to this valuable program," Noll said.

The SAW "Building a Career Ladder in Healthcare" program uses the Internet, computer labs, DVDs and staff coaching to deliver instruction.

Co-workers review basic reading, writing and math skills; improve computer roficiency; study medical terminology, medical ethics, anatomy and physiology.

Students also develop individual career and learning plans to follow in reaching their goals.