Members use union benefits to work toward nursing degree

Carol Willhite, Christopher Lynch, Elvira Ramirez, & Aimee Scott are participating in the SEIU/Kaiser Education Fund RN Program

“This has been a dream of mine for about 15 years,” said Carol Willhite, a CNA at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center. “I want to be an Oncology nurse. I’ve been a CNA for 20 years, working on my pre-requisites for the nursing program for the last 10 years part-time, all the while working full-time and raising my two kids.”

Carol and three other Kaiser Local 49 members were recently selected to participate in N2K, an innovative and fast-paced Associate Degree in Nursing program sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, Local 49, and the SEIU UHW-West and Joint Employer Education Fund.

“It’s all very quick and challenging, but when it’s something you want to do, you figure out a way to do it. With the help of the union, we’ve been able to work my schedule around so I’ll cut back to 20 hours a week at work starting in July. The Education Fund provides a stipend that pays for us to take one day a week off to study.”

In addition to the stipend, the Education Fund pays for tuition, books, and lab fees. Training is at the Portland Community College (PCC), Sylvania Campus, with clinical rotations at various Portland-area hospitals.

The four members chosen to participate in the program passed through a rigorous and highly competitive admissions process.

The SEIU Education Fund offers many other opportunities to Kaiser Local 49 members, including career prep courses [free tuition, books, parking, and tutoring], career counseling, and education stipends. For more information, visit www.seiu-uhweduc.org, or call Shellee Ramirez, Education Fund Coordinator at Local 49, at 503.238.5945.