Following Her Passion

BY KAYLA PRASEK

Mattie McGee-Anderson

JUNIOR, NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, FARGO

MAJOR: NURSING

Year, it was very humbling. It’s hard to put into words. So many of my classmates deserve this, so I feel lucky to have the chance to represent NDSU nursing.”

Career

McGee-Anderson hasn’t chosen a specific area she’d like to work in once she graduates in December. She says she has liked all of her clinical rotations so far, but has always enjoyed the emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit the most. Wherever she ends up, she knows she’s found a career field she’s passionate about.

Education

Before Mattie McGee-Anderson graduated from Bowman County High School in Bowman, North Dakota, in 2013, she had already gained considerable experience in health care, which led her to North Dakota State University’s nursing program. “I had some personal experiences with some really good nurses who showed me the type of nurse I wanted to be,” McGeeAnderson says.

She worked her way up to being a nurse, working as a dietary aide, a certified nursing assistant (CNA) and emergency medical responder through high school. “I realized I like to connect with my patients and advocate for them,” McGee-Anderson says. “Being in the hospital is a vulnerable time, and it’s a privilege to care for them.”

McGee-Anderson chose NDSU because “the campus felt like home, the nursing instructors were friendly and the nursing program was competitive but nationally ranked.” She knew she’d be able to make plenty of connections during her time as a student at NDSU as well. She is vice president of the College of Health Professions Ambassadors, is a member of the Saddle and Sirloin Club, is a Bison Tour Guide and serves on the board of NDSU’s Student Nurses Association.

Success

McGee-Anderson was named NDSU School of Nursing’s Student Nurse of the Year for the 2016-17 academic year. Student Nurse of the Year candidates are nominated by faculty and fellow students vote for the top three candidates. Professionals in the community make the final selection after an interview process.

“Knowing I was even a nominee felt good to know my hard work was recognized by my professors,” McGee-Anderson says. “When I found out I had been chosen as Student Nurse of the

“In high school, I started as a dietary aide at the nursing home in town,” McGee-Anderson says. “Then I realized I loved interacting with the residents and became a CNA. I loved getting to experience different areas of health care, so I took an emergency responder course and worked as a volunteer on our ambulance squad.” While at NDSU, McGee-Anderson has worked as a CNA at Sanford Medical Center on the medicalsurgical floor, volunteered in Sanford’s NICU and emergency department, and has worked at a child care center.

Job Market

“I’m in the first spring-start nursing class at NDSU, so at first we were worried about what employment would look like when we graduate in December,” McGee-Anderson says. “Our instructors have assured us that’ll be a time when health care facilities are seeing a lull in applicants, so it’ll be a good time to get hired.”

McGee-Anderson says that she knows there are a lot of nursing job openings right now, and her class is busy filling out applications for internships and co-ops. “We’ve had nursing graduates come talk to us, and a lot of them have talked about how they either received job offers after internships or applied for jobs while they were still in school and were hired before even taking their boards.”

While McGee-Anderson is confident in finding a job in the Fargo area, her husband is in the military so there’s no guarantee she’ll be staying in North Dakota after she graduates. “I know if I move, there will be jobs, but I don’t know how many are out there.”

Kayla Prasek STAFF WRITER, PRAIRIE BUSINESS