Thank you to all of our partners that indicated interest in being featured as our "Training Program of the Month" over the past few weeks.
We’re proud to announce that Cardinal Healthcare Solutions, a healthcare staffing company and CNA, QMA, and TB/CPR training program based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is our inaugural featured program!
To learn more about Cardinal School of Care, the business’s training wing, we spoke with Abby Widman, Cardinal’s CEO, Co-Founder, and Program Director.
In her conversation with Wend Care’s Megan Gower, Abby reflected on her lifelong connection to the healthcare industry, spoke highly of her students, and shared advice for future healthcare workers.
Throughout their conversation, one thing became clear: Cardinal's instructors act as both mentors and teachers, drawing on their personal experiences to help students become eager, compassionate professionals.
As a former Certified Nursing Assistant who later went on to earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Abby believes that “all of the best nurses are CNAs first.”
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Abby pursued a career in healthcare and became a CNA at only 16. In the years since she first became certified, Abby has earned a degree, opened a staffing company, and trained other healthcare workers, but she’s never forgotten her roots as a CNA.
Describing CNAs as “the backbone of the healthcare system,” she and the other instructors at Cardinal give their students the tools they need to have successful careers in healthcare.
When asked about a moment from her career that sticks out in her memory, Abby recounts the day that the first graduating class of CNAs from Cardinal took their state competency test. Nervously observing from the back of the room, Abby remembers how she felt as she waited for her students’ results—only to learn that every student passed with flying colors.
Instead of relief, however, she says that she and the other members of the Cardinal team felt empowered. Their first students’ high success rate gave them the assurance that they were doing everything right and motivated them to keep teaching.
In the time since that first class graduated, Cardinal students continue to excel; at this school, a high pass rate is the rule, not the exception.
And Cardinal’s support doesn’t just stop at graduation—many of Abby’s former students keep in touch, asking for advice and reaching out for help as they begin working on their own.
In many of these situations, Abby finds herself giving the same piece of advice: “Remember your why.”
Speaking with Abby, it’s clear that the team of directors, instructors, and administrators at Cardinal Healthcare Solutions have the best interest of patients at heart, which, in turn, motivates them to produce proactive, motivated healthcare workers.
To read more about Abby and her work at Cardinal Healthcare Solutions, you can visit Cardinal's website.
Discover the #CardinalCompassion today!
If you’d like your program to be considered for a spotlight feature in 2024, please contact Megan at megan@wend.care.
As always, we're incredibly thankful for all of our partners, and we look forward to more features in the months to come!
