Sunday, April 23, 2000

Women help staff hospital

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They work to become nurses' aides

BY Terry Flynn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

        NEWPORT — Traveling several thousand miles from the middle of the Pacific Ocean to Newport was easy, but finding food here from the islands of Guam, Rota and Saipan is difficult.

Aides (from left) Rhonda Taimanao, Donna Sasakura, Jalynda Wally, Petra Quitugua, Shanna Elymore and Nicole Mendola, all from Guam. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        That is according to some of the 12 young women who recently traveled here from the distant Mariana Islands to become certified nurses' aides and to work at the Baptist Convalescent Center in Newport and the Baptist Village in Erlanger.

        The two facilities, part of Baptist Life Communities, are training and employing the women to relieve staffing pressures while giving them a new career opportunity, Baptist officials said.

Quest for rice
        Part of learning a new career is learning to adjust to new surroundings, several of the women said last week.

        “The food here is so much different from what we are used to eating,” said Nicole Mendiola. “We eat rice with most meals, and hot peppers. And we prepare food differently.”

        Donna Sasakura said a nursing aide instructor, Ardinne Searp, helped the group find the variety of rice they are accustomed to at a shop at the Findlay Market House, in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine.

        “It's just something that gives us a little touch with home, with our culture,” said Rhonda Taimanao.

        The six young women, 19 to 25, and a similar group of six who arrived here last month, learned of the opportunities for certification and jobs through a New Jersey recruiting firm that advertises all around the Pacific Rim.

"More money here'
        They had been working at various jobs on the islands. All agreed that the opportunities for employment and advancement were much better on the mainland.

        “There aren't as many jobs available (on the islands) and the cost of living is higher,” Ms. Sasakura said. “Housing is much more expensive. And we can make more money here.”

        Tom Owen, director of human resources and marketing for Baptist Life Communities, the parent company of the nursing homes, emphasized that bringing new employees in from other parts of the world is a big plus for the homes as well as the workers.

        “We have a real shortage of workers, which is fairly common in this field,” Mr. Owen explained. “These young women aren't taking jobs away from anyone, and when we are fully staffed it just makes things better for everyone.”

        He said it's also good for the new employees, because they will obtain all the necessary training and will be tested and state-certified as nurses' aides.

        The home pays their air fare for the two-day trip from the Marianas and provides lodging for the first 30 days while the newcomers find apartments.

Three-year contracts
        They sign a contract to work for three years, Ms. Sasakura said. If they choose to leave before the three years are up, they must pay their own air fare home.

        “We're looking for a house or apartments in the same (complex) because we want to stay together,” Ms. Taimanao said. “There's a house just down the street from the home, and we hope we can rent it.”

        Although the women all speak perfect English, they still like to converse in the native tongue of the Marianas, Chamorro, when they are together.

        The Mariana Islands are a self-governing commonwealth in political union with the United States. Most of its residents are U.S. citizens and are of Chamorro, Carolinian, East Asian or Micronesian descent.

Impressive students
        Ms. Searp, who is providing the 76 hours of training necessary for the group to take the state certification test, said she has been impressed with her students.

        “I don't think I've ever worked with a better group of young women with so much intelligence and maturity,” she said.

        Most of them indicated they eventually want to pursue nursing careers.

       

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