ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601260024
SECTION: ECONOMY PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
Look at any Help Wanted list and chances are two types of jobs will be on it - fast-food worker and certified nursing assistant.
These are crucial positions in the American way of life. One feeds us; the other cares for us when we're sick, elderly and disabled.
Probably the most they have in common, however, is their pay levels, especially at the beginning level.
The most common starting rate for a fast-food crew worker - the person who takes your order or tucks the lettuce onto a burger - is $4.25, the federal and state minimum wage. A new certified nursing assistant can expect to make about $5.40 an hour.
Both types of jobs require above-average tolerance of other people. That, coupled with low pay, makes the positions tough to keep filled.
Because of the wage level, fast-food restaurants generally must hire teen-agers who often work long enough to make money for a particular purchase, such as a car or a stereo, said Mark Holt, director of operations for Wendy's restaurants in Roanoke.
Workers who stay can see their hourly wage go up to $4.75 or $5, and they also have chances to be moved into higher-level jobs, he said.
Tacoma Inc., the Martinsville company that owns 19 Taco Bell restaurants in Southwest and central Virginia, is enlarging its worker pool by encouraging older people and handicapped people to apply and by offering flexible hours.
Not all workers are hired at minimum wage, either, said Cathie Carter, Tacoma marketing director.
"Somebody that's got some basic skills who shows initiative and is pleasant and tries to work as a team member might come in at $5, $5.50 and $6" an hour, she said. "We're looking and willing to pay for good help."
School systems need to do more to prepare students for "life, and not try to get everyone into college," Carter said. "It's not bad to work in a fast-food restaurant; some CEOs started out flipping hamburgers."
Carter said it has become especially hard to find employees in the Roanoke Valley where Tacoma is preparing to open another restaurant this spring.
It doesn't take much skill to get a job in fast food because the eateries train workers. What it does take, in large amounts, is friendliness, said Holt and Carter. They also want workers who are clean, can smile and be polite.
"People need a good self image. They need to present themselves well and look good in an interview," said Holt.
Clean fingernails and neatly combed hair are important, said Carter. Young people who have had to do chores at home, such as regularly make a bed or sweep a floor, generally are more responsible employees, Carter said.
"They know how to take care of a uniform," she said.
The skills a young person learns as a fast food worker can help later, Carter said.
In the world of certified nursing assistants, though, what they encounter at work can drive them away from the job.
"CNAs are the most important employees there are," said M.J. Williams, director of nursing at the Virginia Veterans Care Center in Salem and a consultant to nursing homes.
Emotionally and physically, it's a very tough job, and some workers find they can't stand it, she said.
A nursing assistant must be certified by the state, but many employers offer training programs that lead to the certification and also pay the worker during training. CNA courses also are taught by the community colleges.
The shortage of CNAs, who work in a variety of settings, is particularly severe in less populated areas. This month, Roanoke's College of Health Sciences will start a seven-week CNA course in the New River Valley using money from a grant the college received to develop health care workers for rural areas.
The nursing assistants give 90 percent of the hands-on care a resident of a home or a hospital patient gets, she said. These workers do everything from grooming, bathing, dressing and feeding of a patient to helping the patient get to the right therapy program.
"They get attached to someone, and they want to spend more time with that patient," Williams explained. "The patient becomes a surrogate grandmother or grandfather."
The reality, though, is that a patient gets about 2 to 21/2 hours of attention a day from a CNA, who has several people to care for, Williams said.
Some of the work they have to do can also be quite unpleasant.
CNAs have to clean up patients who can no longer use a bathroom. They work with people who may not even be aware they're in a nursing home or hospital. Some patients are combative, and it's not unusual for a worker to suffer broken glasses, or broken teeth, and a strained back from struggling with an upset patient, Williams said.
The turnover among nursing assistants is great, she said. Worse, a poor employee who gets fired can get rehired immediately because the need is so great and there is no system of reporting that lets one facility know what another facility has learned about a worker.
People interested in the profession and willing to stick with it can look forward to promotions in job assignment and pay, however.
Support groups for CNAs also are beginning to form, she said.
"These people are put in a blue collar category, but they need to be treated as professionals to be kept longer," Williams said.
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. A Wendy's on Virginia 419 across fromby CNBTanglewood Mall advertises for help.