The team at Wend Care has loved showcasing our partner programs over the past couple of months!
We’re proud to announce that Cotton Care CNA/QMA Academy, a CNA and QMA training program based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is February’s featured program!
To learn more about Cotton Care’s course offerings and founding history, we spoke with Andrea Cotton, the program’s Founder and Program Director.
In her conversation with Wend Care’s Megan Gower, Andrea reflected on her impressive career, discussed challenges facing the certifications industry, and spoke highly of her current and former students.
As the daughter and granddaughter of Public Health employees, both of whom had friends that worked in a variety of healthcare roles, Andrea gravitated towards nursing from a young age.
Shadowing family friends that were healthcare workers solidified Andrea’s desire to become a nurse; the now-Program Director became a Licensed Practical Nurse at 19, a Registered Nurse at 22, and earned her Master’s of Science in Nursing just ten years later.
Now, Andrea has over 35 years of experience in the healthcare industry with her résumé featuring roles in patient care, management, and education.
Throughout her long career, she’s held many positions: labor and delivery nurse, Nurse Preceptor, Director of Nursing for Cook County, Adjunct Faculty for City Colleges of Chicago, and the Dean of Nursing for Med Tech College and other programs.
It was at these latter jobs that the Cotton Care founder discovered her love for educating and mentoring new healthcare workers.
Witnessing the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had on long term care facilities was what spurred Andrea to start her own program, where she now trains CNAs and QMAs to provide top-notch patient care.
Emphasizing the importance of students’ role as caregivers, Andrea tells learners to “Do it right the first time.” At Cotton Care CNA/QMA Academy, students learn to take each task seriously, whether they’re practicing in the lab or working with real patients.
In between these vital lessons, Andrea finds time to bond with her mentees, especially those that have prior experience in healthcare.
The often-younger CNA students are eager to learn, and the QMA students enjoy exchanging stories from their work experiences in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and residential homes. One thing is clear: all Cotton Care students benefit from the founder’s direction.
Unsurprisingly, Andrea’s love of nursing has also carried into her personal life, where 5 younger relatives and family friends have chosen to follow in her footsteps.
With a strong foundation in patient care and a clear dedication to serving her community, Andrea plans on encouraging others to enter nursing careers for years to come!
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To read more about Andrea Cotton and her work at Cotton Care CNA/QMA Academy, you can visit the Cotton Care website.
If you’d like your program to be considered for a future spotlight feature, please contact Megan at megan@wend.care.
We’re thankful to all of our institutional partners, and we look forward to connecting with more local training providers throughout 2024!
