Gary Laustsen, PhD, FNP, RN, FAANP, FAAN Professor, School of Nursing & Health Innovations

Gary Laustsen always wanted to be a teacher. He began his career as a high school science and biology teacher before getting involved with environmental education and working as an EMT for several years. “The environmental education career has limited opportunities for year-round employment, and as fun as it was, I knew I had to find something more sustainable for my family,” he says. He joined an accelerated nursing program, earning his BSN from Regis University in Denver, Colorado, but he knew that he wanted to return to education. “I was always an educator who went into nursing,” he says. “Nursing is my subject area, but I consider myself an educator first.” He began part-time teaching shortly after receiving his BSN, becoming a full-time faculty at Regis in 2001 and going on to earn both a master and doctorate degree in nursing as well. In his career as an RN, he worked in ICUs, rural primary care clinics, university health centers, and medical missions in Mexico and Vietnam.

He moved to Oregon to teach at OHSU’s La Grande campus, before coming to UP in late 2022. “I’d wanted to work at UP for many years,” he said. “I liked the value system and preferred to work at a smaller institution.” Since joining UP, he has taught mostly graduate-level SONHI courses, but cites the entry-level Health Assessment course as one of his favorite classes to teach. “It’s usually one of the first courses new nursing students take, so they’re very excited to start learning these skills,” he says. “It’s nice to work with students who are beginning to learn when it means to be either a nurse or a nurse practitioner for the first time.”