Jennifer Osborne honored with Excellence in Nursing Award

Cheshire Medical Center’s Jennifer Osborne, BSN, RNC OB, C-EFM, a clinical nurse educator/perinatal safety nurse in the Women and Children’s Health Unit (WACHU), was honored on May 22, 2024, at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord with an Excellence in Nursing award, presented by New Hampshire Magazine and the New Hampshire Nurses Association. This yearly program honors outstanding representatives of the state’s nursing community, recognizing those who go above and beyond to comfort, heal, and educate. The awards also highlight the critical role nursing plays in so many areas of healthcare. Osborne was one of 13 nurses honored this year, including two other nurses from the Dartmouth Health system: Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center’s Ian Kirit and Dartmouth Cancer Center’s Diane Stearns.

"We are extremely fortunate at Cheshire to have professional nurses like Jen who are raising the bar for clinical excellence and professional development,” said Chief Nursing Officer Anne Tyrol, MHA, CENP, FACHE. “This award acknowledges her passion and commitment to her field, the local community, and to all the patients who access care in our WACHU.”

Osborne found her calling as a nurse at a young age. When she was 14, she was present for the birth of her niece, and from that moment on, she wanted to be a nurse. Her passion for obstetrics has helped propel her career.

"I love what I do, and I am so happy I chose this career in nursing,” Obsorne says. “I love caring for pregnant women and being present for childbirth. I find it incredibly fascinating and a true miracle every time I witness it. This is a time in a woman’s life that she never forgets, and knowing I was there for her in the most difficult and best times of her life is an honor, to say the least.”

Osborne joined Cheshire’s Women and Children's Health Unit as a staff registered nurse (RN) in 2008. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2017. She is a member of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), and the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL). She holds national certifications in Inpatient Obstetrics and Electronic Fetal Monitoring. She has completed AWHONN Intermediate and Advanced Fetal Monitoring courses and is a certified AWHONN Intermediate Fetal Monitoring instructor. She also holds a certification as a Neonatal Resuscitation Provider (NRP).

“When I joined Cheshire in 2013 as nurse manager of the Women and Children's Health Unit, Jennifer was often functioning in the charge nurse role. She quickly became the primary preceptor for the majority of new RN hires into the department,” said Mindy Glasschroeder, BSN, RNC-OB, CNML, CBC, who serves as the senior director for Ambulatory Nursing. “She seeks educational opportunities to keep her skills current, such as attending courses and maintaining certification. Her colleagues view her as an expert in the field and an informal leader. Because of this, she was chosen to fill our newly created, unit-based educator/perinatal safety specialist position.”

Exceptional nursing is at the heart of Cheshire’s quality care, with over 500 nurses in myriad specialties and at every leadership level. At Cheshire, nurses have the opportunity to practice the full scope of clinical skills. Cheshire provides more specialties than are typically available in other rural medical centers, and recent graduates will find more opportunities in those areas than at larger institutions. Cheshire nurses can access financial education support, RN loan forgiveness, certification support scholarships, and tuition reimbursement.

To learn more about a career in nursing at Cheshire, visit this page.