licensed practical nurse – 91��Ƭ

Extended Care Job Fair

Michelle Lang — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 14:00:00 +0000

91��Ƭ Extended Care Facility is hiring certified nursing assistants (CNAs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs). 91��Ƭ’s Human Resources Department is hosting a Job Fair on Friday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Monsignor Linder Plaza, 233 West Market St., Newark.

For more information about the Job Fair, call 973-639-7800.

Click here to view the flyer.

91��Ƭ Job Fair for Extended Care Nursing Positions Set for Oct. 24

Michelle Lang — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 18:57:16 +0000

is hiring certified nursing assistants (CNAs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and registered nurses (RNs). 91��Ƭ’s Human Resources Department is hosting a Job Fair on Friday, Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Monsignor Linder Plaza, 233 West Market St., Newark.

For more information about the Job Fair, call 973-639-7800.

Click here to view the flyer.

91��Ƭ Extended Care Connects Patient to Resources During Short Stay

Michelle Lang — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 12:47:16 +0000

Newark resident Vivian Ray was having difficulty walking and pain in her hands. After a brief stay at the hospital, she needed physical therapy in an in-patient facility. She chose to come to for services. A little over a month later, she was able to return home after making great progress.

Ray said she couldn’t walk and needed help strengthening her legs and hands. Her condition caused her to stay at for a short time. The hospital recommended that she receive physical therapy at Extended Care to help in her recovery. She agreed and came to the facility on Sept. 9.

Ray called the physical therapy she received at Extended Care “fabulous.”

“I’ve come a long way,” she said. “They helped me a lot with my walking and my hands are much better because I’ve been doing exercises for them.”

Her improvement allowed her to return home on Oct. 12. While she still needs a walker, she’s hopeful that it won’t be for long.

Extended Care Licensed Practical Nurse Maria Cruz said that in addition to providing Ray with physical therapy and pain management, staff members were able to educate her and her daughter about resources available to them that they were unaware of. The staff explained how to get medical transportation so they wouldn’t need to use a cab service to get to and from doctor appointments and also gave them information about resources to help pay utility bills.

“It was a quick stay but she appreciated every bit of it,” Cruz said. “When we did the discharge meeting, they said they were more than grateful for everything we did for them.”

Ray lives in Newark with her daughter and their two cats: Tiny and Midnight. She was happy to return home to them after her stay at Extended Care and hopes that with her continued exercises she will be able to remain there.

The 80-year-old is optimistic about her prognosis.

“I know I’ve got a ways to go but I think I’m capable. I think I can do it,” she said. “It’s just going to take some time.”

She’s grateful for the services she received at Extended Care, saying the people were nice and the nurses worked hard. She has no complaints and recommends the facility to anyone in need of services.

Ray is going to use what she learned at Extended Care to continue her recovery.

“At home, I’m going to keep practicing my stretching and my walking,” she said.

91��Ƭ Extended Care Facility is a skilled nursing facility located at 266 South Orange Ave., Newark. It offers long-term care, short-term care, subacute care and Alzheimer’s and dementia care. For more information, visit or call 973-624-2020.

91��Ƭ Career & Technical Institute Graduate Uses Certification to Return to Medical Field

Michelle Lang — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 15:26:20 +0000

Denise Jones has always been passionate about helping others. She worked as a nursing assistant for 25 years before becoming a substitute teacher for seven years. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and closed schools, she decided she didn’t want to continue working as an educator. Instead, she enrolled in school herself and thanks to 91��Ƭ Career & Technical Institute (NCCTI), she is now working full-time at Newark Community Health Center as a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant.

Jones has lived in Newark for 13 years and was familiar with 91��Ƭ before enrolling at NCCTI. She knows several people who became licensed practical nurses (LPNs) through an LPN program the organization previously offered. Those individuals spoke highly about their experience so she inquired about educational opportunities in the medical field. She decided to enroll in NCCTI’s Clinical Medical Assistant (CMA) program in June of 2021.

Jones was the oldest student in her class at age 52, but that didn’t discourage or intimidate her. She brought her knowledge from serving as a nursing assistant and learned the additional skills necessary to complete the CMA program. She passed the certification exam in early February and quickly found a job at Newark Community Health Center.

“It was the very first job I applied to and they hired me right away,” Jones said.

As a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant, Jones performs the initial intake of patients, inputting vitals, medical history and the reason for the visit into the computer. She then directs patients to an examination room to wait for the doctor and provides any additional tasks requested by the doctor or nurse.

Jones says her time at NCCTI prepared her well for her new position. She gives much of the credit to CMA instructor Dr. Mamdouh Sorial.

She explained that Sorial makes sure everyone in the class understands a topic before moving on to the next one so that no student is left behind.

“He is one of the best instructors,” she said. “I love how he pays attention to detail. And he really cares.”

Sorial saw the potential in Jones and believes she will be successful in this new phase of her career.

“Ms. Jones is a great person and she has the power of success. Since day one she showed the desire and the effort to pass the class and to get certified as a medical assistant and start a new career,” Sorial said. “She has all the characteristics of a successful student and now as a professional medical staff.”

NCCTI Director Dr. Sylvia McCray is glad that Jones had a positive experience at the school.

“I am extremely pleased to hear that NCCTI was very helpful to Ms. Jones,” she said. “We are proud of her accomplishment and wish her well in her future career endeavors.”

Jones has always been passionate about health care. There are many doctors and pharmacists in her family, which introduced her to the field.

“I’ve always loved the health field. I like to help people,” she said. “I care about people and I like to see people get better.”

After serving as a nursing assistant for 25 years, Jones needed to make a change since the job was taking a toll on her body. That’s when she made the switch to substitute teaching. But when the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, she realized that she wanted to reenter the medical field. Since her certifications had expired, that meant returning to school.

She is happy to be a graduate of NCCTI.

“It was a good learning experience,” she said of the school. “I’m proud to say that I went there and the experience was a great one.”

NCCTI is an accredited post-secondary career and technical institution that offers the following programs: Automotive Technician, Diesel Technician, Building Trades Specialist, Clinical Medical Assistant, Patient Care Technician, Community Healthcare Worker, Culinary Arts Specialist and Business & Computer Technologies. NCCTI also operates a comprehensive Financial Opportunity Center and Bridges to Career Opportunities Program sponsored by the local and national Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) offices. For more information, call 973-824-6484, log onto or visit 274 South Orange Ave., Newark.

91��Ƭ Career & Technical Institute Graduates Pursue Additional Education to Further Careers

Michelle Lang — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 19:05:49 +0000

An education at 91��Ƭ Career & Technical Institute (NCCTI) opens the door to a career in desirable industries. But it can also provide an important stepping stone to additional education and an enhanced career. Two women have taken full advantage of their NCCTI education and earned certifications and are now working toward additional degrees in their field.

Lavel Chambers and Denayah Reese were classmates in the Patient Care Technician (PCT) program at NCCTI. They completed the program in 2019 and both found employment at Clara Maass Medical Center. Both women have worked at the facility since getting hired, throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now they are both enrolled in classes at Essex County College where they are pursuing additional degrees to advance in the area of nursing.

Chambers plans to enroll in a licensed practical nurse (LPN) program and then obtain her bachelor’s degree and become a registered nurse (RN). Reese hopes to become an RN and ultimately a nurse practitioner (NP), which is an advanced practice registered nurse who is trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease and formulate and prescribe treatment plans. An NP requires a master’s degree.

“Lavel and Denayah are examples of how NCCTI’s Patient Care Technician program serves as a starting point for our graduates looking to continue to pursue a career in health care. They are examples of staying true to the concept of career growth, moving up the career lattice,” said NCCTI Director Rodney Brutton. “The sky is the limit for Denayah and Lavel because of their strong work ethic, their commitment to succeed and willingness to grow professionally.”

Their experience at NCCTI launched their careers and opened their eyes to the potential in the health care field. They received compliments from their instructors and their Clara Maass coworkers that encouraged them to pursue additional education.

Both Chambers and Reese credit their instructors at NCCTI with helping them succeed on the job.

“The hands-on training was an A+ for us,” Chambers said. She explained that when she first started working at Clara Maass, she immediately had to draw blood and perform EKGs, two of the skills she learned at NCCTI, without any on-the-job training.

In addition to the mechanical workings of phlebotomy and EKGs, Reese said PCT Instructor Dr. Maha Koltowski also taught students about bedside care.

“She taught us how to properly go in and talk to the patient. She taught us how to clean them,” Reese said. “Everything she taught us helped.”

Chambers works as a nurse’s aide in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Clara Maass Medical Center. Her job responsibilities include drawing blood, taking blood pressures and temperatures, cleaning and repositioning patients and transporting patients to other units. She has worked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has seen many COVID-positive patients.

Reese is a nursing assistant on the cardiac floor at Clara Maass Medical Center. She takes vital signs of patients, EKGs to check their hearts, draws blood, transfers patients to the operating room and discharges patients, which is her favorite task.

“My favorite part of my job is seeing the patients go home because I know that my coworkers and I did a great job caring for the patient,” she said. “I love to see them go home. I like to see them get into the car with their families and hug them. It’s a good feeling inside.”

Both women entered the health care field because of their experiences as children with family members. Chambers went to work with her mother, who served as a home health aide, as a child and remembered seeing her mother help those that needed assistance.

“To see the love and compassion that she had for her patients, I wanted to do the same thing,” Chambers said. “And then I want to pursue more education because she never finished going to nursing programs. So I’m trying to live for both of us.”

Reese cared for her grandmother when she was younger and helped other older relatives as well. Now she is furthering her education because she wants to make an even greater impact on patients.

“I have a passion for this deep down. I feel like I’m not at work, I’m at home. Like I leave home to go to my real home,” Reese said.

The commitment and enthusiasm for the field shined through when they were students at NCCTI. Both women attended class regularly, even amid some difficult circumstances. Chambers was working an overnight shift at FedEx while in the PCT program, which meant she left work at 6 a.m., took her children to school and then went straight to NCCTI for a full day of instruction. Reese had just turned 18 when she enrolled and was caring for a young son. But both were dedicated to earning their certifications.

“Lavel Chambers and Denayah Reese were good listeners in class. They were hard-working ladies with humble spirits. Both were attentive to the reviews at the end of the module, and they never got bored repeating the review more than once or twice. They were always following my coaching,” said PCT Instructor Dr. Maha Koltowski. “I kept telling them they have to further their careers because they are able and it is worth it.”

Both women agree that pursuing degrees is worthwhile and are excelling. Chambers has been inducted into the National Society of Leadership and Success, the nation’s largest leadership honor society, and is on track to graduate from Essex County College with an associate’s degree early. Reese plans to begin the nursing program at Essex County College in the fall of 2022.

They each have families to tend to as well. Chambers has been married for 13 years and has four children ranging in age from 3 to 10. Reese has a 4-year-old son.

NCCTI staff members take an interest in students, understanding their circumstances and helping them on their path. That type of attention is welcomed by students.

“Everyone at NCCTI is caring and has compassion for everyone,” Reese said. “I didn’t think that they would actually take the time to care what my name was or anything. They came to the class every day making sure everyone was OK. And then the other resources helped too to actually get to school and stay in school.”

Resources including financial coaching, transportation vouchers and food assistance are accessible to NCCTI students to help them on the road to success. They are able to access those resources after they finish their program as well.

Students in NCCTI programs can expect to remain in contact with school personnel long after graduation.

“We as a school follow up and track our graduates to see how they’re doing. We have retention services to see if they have any career growth,” Brutton said. “It’s that holistic approach to helping our students, not only while they are here but as they transition into the workforce and remain in the workforce.”

Chambers and Reese are great examples of NCCTI fulfilling its mission to improve the quality of life of all students through education and occupational training in a community that fosters life-long learning.

Extended Care RN Credits 91��Ƭ for Helping Her Achieve Success

Michelle Lang — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 18:45:17 +0000

Joyce Misiani has faced numerous challenges since coming to New Jersey from Kenya about 15 years ago. 91��Ƭ has helped her through difficult times and provided support that has enabled her to have a successful career in health care as a registered nurse.

Misiani first became involved with 91��Ƭ when she enrolled in the licensed practical nurse (LPN) program it used to offer. She was working a security job while living in Newark and decided she wanted to obtain a certification in the nursing field. 91��Ƭ’s program was the closest to where she was living, so she enrolled.

Shortly after joining the program, Misiani became homeless. She was staying in a friend’s basement with her daughters and her grades began to slip. Her instructor, Ellen Boddie, noticed something was wrong and questioned her about it. Although she resisted at first, Misiani eventually told Boddie what was going on. Boddie reached out to NCC Board Member and Outreach Coordinator Madge Wilson about the situation and they helped Misiani get placed at Harmony House, NCC’s transitional housing for homeless families.

From Harmony House, Wilson helped Misiani get an NCC apartment on Bruce Street. Even during the moves, Misiani continued attending the LPN program with encouragement from Boddie. She said her grades began to improve after she obtained permanent housing.

One of Misiani’s classmates told her she would be a good candidate for Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that helps families build and improve places to call home. She did her research and visited a local office to see if she would qualify. She did and was accepted into the program. For two and a half years, Misiani helped build her house, along with several others, using what Habitat for Humanity calls “sweat equity” for payment. At the end, she became a homeowner of a home in Irvington, where she lives today.

After Misiani completed the LPN program, she was hired at 91��Ƭ Extended Care. She was a good employee and dedicated to her work and the residents at the facility. Extended Care Administrator Veronica Onwunaka, who served as the Director of Nursing at the time, took notice.

“She cares about people and she shows a lot of dedication and that was why, when I saw and noticed that she could do more and she has the tools and the knowledge in her to do more, I spoke with Monsignor about training her to become a registered nurse,” Onwunaka said.

Monsignor William J. Linder, founder of 91��Ƭ, who lived the last years of his life at Extended Care, encouraged Misiani to return to school and become an RN.

“I couldn’t be what I am today if it were not for him,” Misiani said.

He insisted Misiani apply to colleges, even telling her that she had to take a day off work to complete applications. She planned to continue her education, but it was difficult as a single mother of four girls. Monsignor insisted and Misiani settled on Chamberlain University in New Brunswick. She received a scholarship from 91��Ƭ to attend.

Obtaining her bachelor’s degree certainly wasn’t easy. She continued working and felt guilty that she wasn’t spending as much time with her four daughters as she thought she should. But she said it was a sacrifice that was necessary to improve her family’s life. And she didn’t want to let anyone down.

“So many times I wanted to just quit. So many things happening,” Misiani said. “But then I kept saying, if I quit Monsignor really went out of his way. This is just too much to lose. It’s a lot of money. Just study hard.”

The hard work paid off. Misiani is now a registered nurse and is still working at Extended Care as an assistant unit manager.

“I said I have to come back. How else can you really say thank you?” she said. “NCC has really shaped me. Because if I weren’t here, I don’t know where I would be. I will always be grateful.”

Wilson said she was happy to help Misiani find an apartment and remembers providing her children with gifts for Christmas.

“She’s a good worker but she is also a mother who loves her four children. Even though she is a single mom, she takes care of her children,” Wilson said. “When I heard she had become a registered nurse, I was happy for her.”

Misiani is relieved that she has completed her studies and is now able to spend more time with her four daughters, who she said were extremely happy when she graduated. Her oldest daughter, who is 24, lives with her full-time and was a recipient of the Monsignor William J. Linder Scholarship for her high school education. Misiani’s three younger daughters, twins who are 13 and a younger girl who is 11, attend boarding school in Pennsylvania and are home for summers and holiday breaks.

“I feel like I’m so blessed. Because when you start, you’re so miserable, desperate. There are times you feel like you’re just nothing,” Misiani said. “I’m honored to be one of Monsignor’s recipients of the scholarship. I don’t know how to put it into words but I really thank God for everything.”