Pella, Iowa – April 7, 2022 – Iowa House Representative and Congressional Candidate Christina Bohannan visited the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Basic 75 class at the Career Academy of Pella (CAP) to learn about and experience virtual reality (VR) training as part of the school’s Nursing/Patient Care Specialist registered apprenticeship program. Representatives from VRSim, provider of the school’s virtual reality technology, as well as WorkSMART Connector, a community collaboration that prepares young people for local careers through unique work-based learning opportunities, were in attendance.

*Pictured: CNA instructor Kay Landon (left), students from the Career Academy of Pella, and Iowa House Representative Christina Bohannan (center). Photo: VRSim, Inc*

“The Career Academy of Pella offers a great opportunity for high school students to learn about and experience possible career options. It helps them to visualize their future and can give them a leg up in the job market. This is a great example of innovative public education options benefiting Iowa kids,” said Bohannan, during her visit with WorkSMART Connector Director, Teri Vos. Bohannan was excited to learn about all of WorkSMART Connector and CAP’s work-based learning pathways including construction trades, early childhood education, engineering assistant, hospitality, information technology, welding, and (recently) patient care.

“The Career Academy of Pella offers a great opportunity for high school students to learn about and experience possible career options. It helps them to visualize their future and can give them a leg up in the job market.”
– Christina Bohannan, Iowa House Representative and Congressional Candidate
Pictured: Bohannan observing a student demonstration of PeriCare. Photo: VRSim, Inc

During the visit, students from the CNA class demonstrated how they have used VR technology for skills practice as part of their laboratory experience. Bohannan herself took the opportunity to try her hand at the technology. “I was excited to experience first-hand VRSim’s innovative virtual reality program, which allows Iowa high school students experiential certified nursing assistant training in a low-risk environment. This should encourage more students to consider nursing as a career, which will help with Iowa’s health care shortage,” she said.

During the Fall 2021 semester, CAP piloted an early-developed version of VR CNA skills training under the name “PeriCare”, which is still in use today. With the recent announcement of VRNA^™, an advanced and fully immersive virtual reality training system that prepares users for both in-person clinical training and the CNA state exam, VRSim and WorkSMART Connector will be equipping CAP with a complete classroom set for students to use. Additionally, CAP will have early access to VRNA before official release for Fall 2022 school programs. This expansion was made possible with collaborative efforts from Central College, Pella Regional Health Center, Wesley Life and Future Ready Iowa Employer Innovation Fund.

VRNA is available for pre-order and will be fully deployed for program use in Fall 2022. Learn more at https://vrsim.com /vrna.