Waynesville Career Center’s School of Practical Nursing will celebrate its 50th Anniversary this Thursday afternoon and evening

The Waynesville Career Center’s School of Practical Nursing will celebrate its 50th Anniversary this Thursday afternoon and evening from 4 to 7 o’clock at the WCC. All alumni, current and future students, past instructors, friends, and their families are invited to attend. Beth Goss, one of the graduates of the first class of 1974, recalls that her grandmother always knew that she would be a hairdresser or a nurse. Once Goss was accepted into the WCC’s practical nursing program, her grandmother was determined that Goss would go. According to Goss, her grandmother said, “Times were changing, and that I needed to be able to support myself. She was really ahead of her time.”
After passing the state licensure exam in 1974, Goss went to work at the Waynesville Hospital, where Perimeter Behavior Health is today. When word spread of the newly opened hospital at the Lake, she joined their team and retired in 2020 after 35 years with Lake Regional Health System.
Goss remembers that the program wasn’t easy, but because of her strong foundation, she was able to pivot and adapt to the ever-changing role of LPNs in healthcare.