With much enthusiasm, Director of Education Anetha Craft, RN started the Safe SitterŪ program at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital in Lake Charles, LA, 18 years ago - and it's flourished ever since, said Site Coordinator Marta Benglis, RN.
"Her energy, excitement and dedication to the program have been very contagious throughout the years, both to students and Instructors," said Marta. "Anetha is still very community-minded and interested in continuing to offer the program." Anetha, the original Site Coordinator, was responsible for bringing the program to the Education Department where she had the entire department of six staff members trained as Instructors.
Lake Charles offered the area's only Safe SitterŪ class for many years. And its popularity hasn't wavered. "There was, and is, a constant demand for the program and it has turned out a large number of Safe Sitters," said Anetha.
The best thing about Safe SitterŪ is the students, said Marta, whose role as a mom, RN, lactation consultant and childbirth educator feeds her passion for families and infant care.
"Every class is different because of the different personalities of the students. I love to see them gain confidence throughout the day," Marta said.
And teaching alongside fellow Instructors Doris Marcantel and Rita Sonnier provides an added joy. "Each one brings her own teaching style to the class which makes it fun. We work really well together," said Marta.
The trio of RNs teaches 5-6 times per year with 12-18 students in each class. "We never have a problem filling a class!" Marta said.
The efforts of the hospital's marketing department are what get those students to classes, she adds. The department prints out the fliers that are distributed in public places and mailed to various organizations. In addition, ads are run in the local newspaper.
Marta said that she and her fellow Instructors are typically geared toward the childbearing family. Offering classes to adolescents has helped make the hospital more visible to the entire community.
"The community benefits because better sitters today really are better parents tomorrow, as the Safe SitterŪ saying goes," said Marta. She's noticed a number of expectant mothers who've signed up for her prenatal classes also eventually enroll their future babysitters in Safe SitterŪ because the program is viewed so positively.
"I have actually had several students in Safe SitterŪ who had attended my prenatal classes...11-14 years ago. Of course, they were inside their moms and don't remember me, but maybe my voice sounds a little familiar to them!" Marta said.
