WisCaregiver Careers: CNA—Employer Information
WisCaregiver Careers is a public-private partnership designed to address the CNA shortage in Wisconsin nursing homes by providing free training, free certification testing, and $500 retention bonuses. The program seeks to encourage new workers to enter the field of caregiving by lowering the costs of becoming a CNA and by making training more readily accessible.
If you are a member of the public wishing to learn more about free CNA training and testing with WisCaregiver Careers, please visit the WisCaregiver Careers: CNA webpage. The information on this page is for our participating employers.
Key resource
Get all the information and resources you need to be a WisCaregiver CNA employer
Background
WisCaregiver Careers is administered by Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) in partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, the Wisconsin Health Care Association, and LeadingAge Wisconsin.
WisCaregiver Careers aims to connect people with nursing home employers who will coordinate and pay for CNA training, testing, and pay $500 retention bonuses.
WisCaregiver Careers functions as a hub between people who want to start a healthcare career as a CNA in a Wisconsin nursing home and employers who want to hire and train them.
WisCaregiver Careers features an employment first program design in which participants are first hired by the employer and are trained under an in-house training program or through a third-party provider under an arrangement coordinated by the employer. This program design ensures that program funding is only used on participants who are ready, willing, and able to work in long-term care; they can pass a background check; and are willing to accept the vaccine requirements of the job before any program dollars are spent. From the caregiver perspective, this design also offers an "earn while you learn" advantage, which eliminates a significant financial barrier to entering the profession.
WisCaregiver registrants enter the program by selecting a participating employer from our online map and submitting an application for employment. WisCaregivers are often hired as resident assistants or hospitality aides, however the title varies by employer.
In addition to our goals of adding more CNAs to Wisconsin’s registry, we also have several goals designed to support nursing home recruitment and staffing best practices. Our hope is that by providing a low-risk environment for employers to experience these strategies, they can implement these best practices long-term in a way that works for their circumstances and needs. These recruitment and retention efforts can also help nursing homes compete in the healthcare labor market and make a positive long-term impact on the CNA shortage in Wisconsin nursing homes.
Our recruitment and staffing best practices include:
- Recruiting tools and support
- Help building community sourcing relations through our partners
WisCaregiver Connections employer resources
The documents and videos listed below will assist you to effectively use WisCaregiver Connections.
- CNA Search Instructions for Employers (PDF)
- Employer Notification Settings Instructions (PDF)
- New CNA Employer Handshake Instructions (PDF)
- CNA Employers—How to Sign Up as an Employer on WisCaregiver Connections
- CNA Employers—How to Post a Job on WisCaregiver Connections
- CNA Employers—How to Set Up Notifications on WisCaregiver Connections
- CNA Employers—How to Set Up Filters, County Filters, Messaging and Saved Search on WisCaregiver Connections
Employer assistance
To be added to our participating employer map or to update your employer registration information, contact our customer service team at info@wiscaregivercna.com or call us during office hours at 833-315-2273.
WisCaregiver Careers CNA office hours are: Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. or by appointment.
If you need assistance outside regular office hours, please email your request to navigator@wiscaregivercna.com. We will do our best to accommodate your schedule.
WisCaregiver Careers is closed for the following holidays: Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, July 3rd, Independence Day, and Labor Day.
Free certification exams and reimbursements
WisCaregiver Careers covers the costs of one attempt for each required CNA certification exam portion (knowledge and skills) and reimburses eligible employers for training and retention bonuses. To receive these program benefits, employers must follow the step-by-step instructions shown in Appendix C of the WisCaregiver CNA Employer Guide (PDF).
Recruitment resources
Job seekers interested in becoming a CNA can learn more about WisCaregiver Careers online, and use our participating employer map to search for employers.
Our WisCaregiver CNA Employer Guide (PDF) includes all the information you need to know for WisCaregiver Careers participation, recruitment, and reimbursement.
CMS has a nursing home staffing campaign aimed at recruiting more certified nurse aides (CNAs), highlighting the career pathways available to nurses, and a webpage with a general description of the campaign.
- Visit the Recruitment and Career Pathways (CMS) webpage.
- Visit the Nursing Home Staffing Campaign (CMS) webpage.
- Send questions about the CMS campaign to NHSC@cms.hhs.gov.
Important: whitelist our email addresses
In order to receive program communications, please add the following email addresses to your “Safe Senders” list:
Community resources and publications
Do you or someone you know want to make a personal impact on the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) shortage in Wisconsin nursing homes? Help WisCaregiver Careers recruit and train the next generation of nurse aide trainers! Read our published newsletter article highlighting resources available for free training to become a nurse aide trainer: Addressing the CNA Shortage One Trainer at a Time (PDF).