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Award Entry: Creative Solutions to Shortage of Certified Nursing Assistants

Sarah Mizes-Tan
/
WCAI
CNA Rebecca Besse uses the IntelyCare app to pick up extra nursing shifts.

Cape Cod's population is aging, at the same time the region has fewer and fewer working professionals to take care of the elderly. That shortage has been a factor in a number of nursing homes closing on the Cape and South Coast earlier this year. The backbone of nursing home staffing is certified nursing assistants, or CNAs.

We decided to cover this story in two parts.

In our first story, which aired October 1, 2019, we look at a creative approach by a company called Cape Cod Nursing Home. It offers a free in-house nursing assistant training program with a job afterward. 

In our second story, which aired October 2, 2019, we look at a new way of hiring CNAs through an app called IntelyCare. It makes hiring a CNA like calling an Uber.