G4: Data to Action: Strengthening New Jersey’s Direct Care Workforce Through CNA Survey Insights
Thursday, June 18 | 10:45 AM - 11:45 PM
Target Audience: Assisted Living/Personal Care; Clinical; Governance & Leadership; Home Care + HCBS; Operations; HR / Workforce
This 60-minute session will explore New Jersey’s first-ever statewide Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) survey and its implications for strengthening the direct care workforce. Presenters Daria Waszak of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing and Tyla Minniear of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, co-lead of the Essential Jobs Essential Care (EJEC) coalition, will share new data that illuminate the realities and challenges facing CNAs across long-term care settings.The session will begin with an overview of the 2024 CNA survey – its purpose, methodology, and partnership between NJCCN, EJEC, and PHI. Speakers will highlight key findings: limited access to affordable health insurance, widespread Medicaid reliance, significant linguistic diversity within the workforce, retention risks with nearly 40% of CNAs planning to leave the field, and the prevalence of dual CNAs/CHHAs who navigate fragmented credentialing systems. Using these data points, presenters will examine how compensation, training, workplace conditions, and career pathways directly affect both workforce stability and quality of care for older adults. The session will then connect these findings to EJEC’s policy priorities, including centralizing CNA and CHHA credentialing under the Board of Nursing, expanding language access supports, and advancing sustainable workforce investments. Participants will engage in discussion on how providers, state agencies, and advocates can apply survey insights to improve recruitment, retention, and professional development. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies and a clearer understanding of how data-driven policy can strengthen the essential direct care workforce that underpins aging services in New Jersey.
NAB/NCERS
Speaker Information
Chief Operating Officer, New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute
Tyla Minniear brings extensive experience in state government and health care advocacy to her role as Chief Operating Officer. Tyla manages the day-to-day business operations of the Quality Institute and provides strategic support to staff in each program area. She also oversees our external communications to inform the public and policymakers about this critical work to improve health care for everyone. In addition, Tyla engages with Quality Institute members to advance our work on safety, quality, and affordability. Members come from every corner of health care and Tyla galvanizes their expertise to drive important advancements in areas including health care workforce development, high-quality primary care, and integrated mental health care. She serves on the Board of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing. Tyla joined the Quality Institute in 2016 after advocating for health care providers as Director of Government Relations and Policy for the New Jersey Hospital Association. Tyla began her policy career staffing both the New Jersey State Legislature and the New Jersey Governor’s office. She is a graduate of Rutgers University with a B.A. in Political Science and History.
Executive Director / Clinical Associate Professor, New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing / Rutgers Nursing
Dr. Daria Waszak is the executive director of the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing (NJCCN) and clinical associate professor in the Advanced Practice Division at Rutgers School of Nursing. In her NJCCN role, she leads the collection, analysis, and dissemination of nursing workforce data in NJ, oversees statewide nurse residency programs in acute care as well as school nursing, long term care, and advanced practice as well as a mentoring collaborative, and promotes innovative research and advocacy activities. She has 30 years of professional nursing experience in areas including emergency, occupational health, ambulatory care, and forensics, as well as programmatic and academic leadership. Dr. Waszak earned her DNP degree in Health Systems Executive Leadership from the University of Pittsburgh, MSN degree in Nursing Administration / Occupational and Environmental Health from UCLA, and BS in Nursing degree from San Diego State University. She is board certified as a nurse educator and occupational health nurse-specialist and holds a certificate as an Apple Teacher. Dr. Waszak serves as a member of the Organization of Nurse Leaders of New Jersey Advocacy Committee, Vizient Nurse Residency Program Advisory Board, and co-chair of the Communications and Marketing Committee for the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. She is also the Chair of Leadership Sucession for the Alpha Tau Chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing and was the founding past president of the Alpha Beta Chi Chapter. She a member of the Climate Action Group at Rutgers Health and serves on the Rutgers Nursing Mentoring Committee and Evaluations Committee.
