Harper College will be closed Monday, September 1, in observance of Labor Day.
Jennifer AK Mepham, MSN, BS, RN, CHSE
System Simulation Education Specialist
Advocate Health
For Jennifer Mepham, Harper College was an integral part of her education before, during and after the preparation for her career in nursing, enriching her professionalism every step of the way. Mepham enrolled in summer courses at Harper College while earning her Bachelor of Science degree at Illinois State University (2011), and then completed her Associate Degree in Nursing at Harper (2014).
“My time in the nursing program (at Harper College) was filled with learning, relationship building and personal growth,” Mepham said. “Nursing school is not easy, but the professors at Harper College made themselves available to their students, which lightened the burden.” Her relationship with Harper College continued while she completed a master’s degree in nursing with a focus in education. She collaborated with Jennifer Smith, professor and director of nursing, while working toward her advanced degree at Indiana Wesleyan University (2019). ;“Jen Smith was gracious enough to allow me to work with her and her students. The collaboration led to a podium presentation at a nursing conference.”
Mepham began her career as a bedside nurse within the clinical resource department at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in 2015. Since then, she has combined her education and professional experience to become an expert in patient care education. Today, in her role as a System Simulation Education Specialist for Advocate Aurora Health (AAH), she leads an array of training programs, including the onboarding of newly hired nurses.
Mepham became one of many health care “heroes” during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, she helped train nurses in using the prone position for patients with COVID. Later, she managed a vaccine clinic and 80 team members.
“I did not transition to ‘working from home,’ but instead had the opportunity to take on stretch assignments,” Mepham said. “In my Healthcare Simulation profession, my focus was training nurses … I was then asked to be a lead within the COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital.”
She willingly accepted these “unique and stressful” challenges and was recognized for her unselfish dedication with a Hospital Team of the Year award for her work during the pandemic.
Mepham gives back to the local community in volunteer outreach for AAH including flu vaccine clinics for non-English speaking communities, the National Night Out in Barrington, and volunteering with the SEARCH program, which allows high school students to volunteer at the hospital and learn about health care professions.