Balancing Homework and Dreams, Camerer and Classmates Earn CNA Certification

Story by Dominika Kouassi '25

For high school students interested in medicine, gaining hands-on experiences can feel like an impossible challenge. However, there are ways for students to get involved, for example, getting a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) certification.

CNAs are an entry-level position that allows title holders to provide basic level care and support for their patients, such as bathing, feeding patients, stocking medical supplies and logging patient information.

In Nebraska, CNA-seeking applicants have to be 16 or older, making this a perfect opportunity for high schoolers who want to get a jumpstart on their medical careers. This rings true for senior Olivia Camerer, who spent her summer working and studying to earn her CNA certification.

Camerer’s motivation for earning her CNA certification is wanting “to do nursing school after high school because it would give me good experience for what healthcare would look like later in life,” she said. So, this internship-shadowing program that she found in an email from Assistant Principal Mrs. Jen Christen was right up her alley.

Though the classes were in the summer, it was a full time job that took up the majority of her time. The internship was eight weeks. “We had to do at least 50 hours [of studying] online and they tracked us. Then we would practice our skills [in person] for five hours at Methodist [Hospital] every week,” Camerer said.

Some of Camerer’s duties during her time at Methodist Hospital were“changing people’s beds, giving them in-bed baths and emptying fluid containers,” Camerer said.

To earn a CNA certification, the exam includes five random physical skill tests and a 100-question written test. “Don’t be discouraged if you fail your CNA test the first time, you can take it again,” Camerer said.

For Camerer, the most challenging part was taking people’s blood pressure. “They would make us take  it manually, every single hospital has an electric one–but we would have to learn how to do it with a stethoscope and a cusp while timing it,” Camerer said.

Reflecting on getting her certification, Camerer said she believes it will set her up for success. “I think it will push me to do harder things, because some of the events we went to focused a lot of elderly care, and I don’t necessarily want to go into elderly care, but a lot of emotional things happen when you’re in that stage of life, so the training helped prepare me for that.”

Her takeaway from this program is that she can push through obstacles: “I can do hard things and I can learn skills even if it takes me a long time,” Camerer said.

CNA trainees take a selfie while at work. Diane Koumaka ’25, Poni Loala ’25. Grace Patterson ’25, Olivia Camerer ’25 and friends from other schools are pictured. Photo courtesy of Camerer