This time of year, Daylight Saving Time is synonymous with an extra hour of slumber, but not for those who work the night shift. Most of these individuals – including night shift nurses and health care professionals – instead tacked an extra hour of work onto their shift Saturday night. To show appreciation for the night shift hospital workers at Mercy Hospital in Joplin who were on duty when the clocks turned back this past weekend, local nonprofit, fully online university WGU Missouri surprised them with a special food delivery from Chick-fil-A.
Once the night shift began on Nov. 5, a representative from WGU dropped off individual meals of Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches and nuggets, bags of waffle potato chips and chocolate chunk cookies to 123 night shift workers. As part of this effort, WGU Missouri also provided information about a new scholarship for those who are interested in furthering their education. The Night Shift Workers Scholarship is designed for dedicated night shift workers returning to school in any of the four WGU colleges of business, IT, K–12 teacher education or health professions, including nursing. Each scholarship is valued at up to $4,000 per new or returning student and is open through Dec. 31, 2022.
“When we turned our clocks back at 2 a.m. early Sunday morning, night shift nurses in Joplin had to work an extra hour,” said Dr. Terrance Hopson, Regional Vice President of WGU Missouri. “By providing them with dinner and offering this scholarship opportunity, we were able to honor the important and often unrecognized contributions of these healthcare heroes.”
WGU Missouri has a proud history of thanking night shift workers. As a flexible, online university, many of its students are night owls themselves. To learn more about WGU Missouri and its commitment to night shift workers and healthcare professionals, visit missouri.wgu.edu.
About WGU Missouri
WGU Missouri is a competency-based, online university created to expand access to higher education for Missouri residents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the fields of business, K-12 teacher education, information technology, and health professions, including nursing. WGU Missouri faculty members serve as mentors, working one-on-one with students, offering guidance, support, and individualized instruction.
Established in 2013 through a partnership with nationally recognized Western Governors University, WGU Missouri is open to all qualified Missouri residents. The university is nonprofit and self-sustaining on flat-rate tuition of about $7,600 per year for most programs.
Degrees are granted under the accreditation of Western Governors University, which is accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Nursing College programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE*), and the Health Informatics program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). More information is available at missouri.wgu.edu or by calling 855.948.8493.
*Western Governors University offers nursing programs that are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 5380, Washington DC 20036, 202-877-6791).
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For more information, contact:
Merisa Ashbaugh
(314)436-9090