Nursing Ranks #1 in Employment Growth
By Erik Jorgensen, Newsletter Staff

A U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report ranks four health professions in their top ten list of occupations with the largest employment growth. The report, originally released in 2006, spans ten years, includes thirty occupations, and is updated annually. Measured criteria for the rankings include the total number of jobs in each occupation and a calculated percentage-based increase or decrease. Nursing currently holds the top rank with home health aides, personal care aides and nursing aides (also in the top ten).

Even though the U.S. healthcare industry is often in a state of political scrutiny and flux, one constant remains: the need for healthcare professionals continues to grow.

Current and prospective students should note that Western Governors University offers a number of degrees in health professions including Nursing, Health Informatics, Healthcare Management, and more. For more information, please visit http://www.wgu.edu.



Student Profile: Gerald Mattson
College of Health Professions

Where are you from? Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Why did you pick WGU? A fellow student and co-worker has been a student of WGU for a year now and suggested I take a look at the programs available. The degree in health informatics was being developed so I waited until that was available to apply.

When did you start at WGU? August 2008.

Your program of study: B.S. in Health Informatics.

Your favorite aspect of being a WGU student: The flexibility of working on class work during my time and on my schedule is one of my favorite aspects of being a student at WGU. Another feature that I enjoy about being a WGU student is my mentor and the guidance that she provides to me. I feel like someone who can and will succeed and not “another student” she has to deal with.

Obstacles as a student: Balancing work, home and school times can be a challenge, but I enjoy looking for opportunities to overlap those times as much as possible.

What do you think about the WGU competency-based model? I have spoken with several other co-workers going through other online degree programs from other schools. They often comment on their grades and I counter with the fact that WGU is more like “real life” and “either you can do it or you can’t do it”. Life is based on the ability to complete projects and assignments not on a system of “A, B, or C”.

What are your plans after you finish your degree? Once I graduate from WGU, I hope to pursue an advanced degree in my field of study and work.

Outside of work and WGU, what do you like to do? When I am not working on school, writing papers, reviewing articles and reading books in Medicare and Medicaid, I enjoy spending time with my partner, his children and grandchildren. Summers are full of travel, hiking and camping. Winters are packed with friends, family and outdoor activities.
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Faculty Spotlight: Mary Anne Rea-Ramirez
Director, Nursing Programs

Where are you from? Originally from Richmond, Virginia but I have lived in California and Massachusetts.

When did you join WGU? July 2005.

What do you enjoy about WGU? It is exciting to be involved in the beginning of a university. Since I came, I have seen such growth in the number of students and programs. For many years, I conducted research on how people learn and now I have really been able to use what I learned. I guess my greatest love is program development and I have had plenty of opportunity at WGU. 

How do you see WGU’s programs different from traditional universities? I think the programs are much more rigorous. Because we are competency-based, we expect a great deal from our students that I didn’t see in traditional education. Too often, my students at the university could do little and still pass. Many times they just expected to get an A even though you didn’t see competency. You also get to know your students much more at WGU than I ever did in the traditional university. Even though we may never meet face-to-face, all the contact we have allows us to become quite involved in each student as a person. Things also move very quickly at WGU. This is not something that often happens in traditional universities. We don’t allow ourselves to get hung up on committees that go on forever. There is also much more support here for trying new things. I like change so it suits me well.

What are your leisure activities? Leisure??? What is that??? When I have time I like to garden, read, birdwatch and just walk at the beach. I love science so science museums are really fun for me especially with my grandchildren. It is great to see young people get excited about science.

Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere near the water that is peaceful. Right now I travel so much that I don’t want to have to get on an airplane though.

More on Mary Anne: Mary Anne received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, specializing in math, science, and instructional technology education. She has been actively involved in college teaching, educational research, professional development, software development, grant management, and educational consulting for the past eight years. Prior to this, she taught elementary and middle school and holds life science, ESL, and multi-subject credentials from California. Her research in education involves in-depth study of cognition and learning, particularly in the area of model-based learning and teaching and has been supported for the last eight years through grants from the National Science Foundation. This has resulted in international presentations, journal publications, and books.

Dr. Ramirez comes with a varied background in medicine and education, having practiced nurse-midwifery for 15 years and taught at the elementary through college levels.
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