When a hospital job is mentioned, typically most think of a doctor or nurse. However, in Powell’s own community hospital, the student-aide position is offered, giving high school and college students opportunities to explore healthcare careers without all the higher education that is involved.

“This is something that Terry Odom, our past CEO, and I wanted to do. Our goal was to hit another niche in our community of introducing healthcare,” Cassie Tinsley, director of Human Resources and the Student Aide program at Powell Valley HealthCare (PVHC), said. “We thought it would be good to start with high school students or college students. So, part of it was just to have an introduction of getting individuals into the organization to see that maybe they don’t want to go to nursing school, maybe they want to go down a different path.” 

While this program is still relatively new, only having employed aides for about six years, it has allowed many students to figure out if healthcare is their forte or not. Fluctuating between nine and fifteen students, it isn’t a position that is over-saturated with hundreds of employees and promotes a personal connection to other hospital employees, patients, and care center residents. 

“I’ve always been interested in healthcare and wanted more experience working at a hospital,” senior Maya Landwehr said. “Through Mrs Bennett’s field study at PVHC, I was connected to Cassie Tinsley who encouraged me to apply for the position.”

For Landwehr, she found an entrance into the healthcare workforce through her time as a student aide. After working in the position for eight months, she acquired her CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) license and has since been employed in the Long Term Care Center.

“I applied to be an aide because I felt like I wanted to be in the healthcare industry and help people,” junior Juan Torres said. “I really enjoy talking to the [long-term care] residents and seeing them have fun.”

Landwehr and Torres both see themselves in healthcare careers down the road, but that doesn’t mean it’s a requirement to work in the position. Some student aides choose to stay away from the hands-on resident care side of things and work in other areas of the hospital. 

“Some aides aren’t always in direct patient care. Some are in support roles, such as materials, at the front desk, and one has even become an HR assistant,” Tinsley said. “It really gives students the opportunity to see what they do and don’t like in lots of different areas.”