Now Scheduling Primary Care Appointments Online. Book Now.
Oaklawn nurse takes on new professional challenge as family nurse practitioner
MARSHALL – When Jenifer “Jeni” Stansell was a junior in high school, she took a career-placement examination that suggested she should consider a career in health care — but its additional suggestion was compellingly specific.
“It said I should be a physician assistant,” she recalled.
The prophecy took 20 years for fulfillment, but Stansell now is facing that very challenge as a family nurse practitioner at Oaklawn’s Specialty Clinic at 203 Winston Drive. There, she is working alongside Paul Aschmetat, D.O. Appointments may be made by calling (269) 789-4380.
For the past four years, Stansell actually has been a familiar presence at Oaklawn, working with emergency, surgical and orthopedic patients in her role as a registered nurse first assistant.
At Oaklawn and during work at medical sites in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Stansell has gained more than 15 years of professional medical experience, including surgical experience.
Stansell was born and reared in Columbia City, Indiana. Her family included a great-great-grandfather who’d been a general and obstetrics physician in Dublin, Ireland. Her paternal grandmother had been a registered nurse who oversaw special-needs children.
However, Stansell has pondered whether those connections had any more than a subliminal impact on her mind when considering her career future and her eventual decision to pursue nursing.
“I just have an high interest in taking care of people,” she said. “I couldn’t see myself in a desk job or owning a business.”
After graduation from Columbia City High School, Stansell enrolled at Indiana Wesleyan University, from which she received a bachelor of science degree in nursing in 2008.
In time, Stansell recognized that she wanted even greater involvement in patient care. To that end, in 2018, she gained certification by the National Institute of First Assisting.
“My role as a registered nurse first assistant allows me to define high-quality nursing care and compassion through an autonomous work environment that is collaborative with all surgeons across many specialties,” she said.
For similar reasons, she enrolled in Walden University’s family nurse practitioner program, graduating earlier this year with a master of science degree in nursing.
A resident of Battle Creek, Stansell spends much of her free time as a volunteer for church-based projects, including children’s ministry and mission trips. She recently participated in such a trip to support the Navajo Nation in Arizona, the largest reservation in the United States.
Such service reflects Stansell’s drive to grow further in her career and make a broader effort to help individuals through improved health care.
“When I was working in cardiac surgery, I would wonder, ‘Who is this person and how do I get to know them at a deeper level?’,” she recalled.
“For me, it’s all about being able to have a great impact on health care — more autonomy in helping patients in an independent way,” she added. “I wanted to get to know the individual rather than just the medical side.”
That desire is exactly what brought her to Oaklawn, she said.
“Oaklawn provided what I was looking for,” she said. “Elsewhere, one’s own needs might fall on deaf ears. There’s advantage in being part of a smaller organization, where I can learn the procedures well, begin honing my skill set and collaborating more one-on-one with physicians.”
