Building Stability for Patients and ProviderS
An Academy for Healthcare Leaders Project Spotlight
Featuring Jennifer Pernesky, MSN, RN, NP-C | Advanced Healthcare Leaders
After 25 years in nursing, Jennifer Pernesky, MSN, RN, NP-C, has built her career around caring for patients and helping them stay well. She began in critical care before earning a master’s degree in nursing education and later completing her post-master’s nurse practitioner program.
Five years ago, she transitioned to outpatient family practice, where she found an opportunity to work with underserved patients. Today, Pernesky works at Rural Health Group, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), where she has grown from a new nurse practitioner into a provider with increasing responsibilities.
Her commitment to leadership development brought her to the Advanced Healthcare Leaders (AHL) program, part of the NCMS Foundation’s Academy for Healthcare Leaders.
“I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything the right way, and being an effective leader, instead of just winging it,” Pernesky says.
The Project: Improving APP Retention in an FQHC Setting
For Pernesky, effective leadership is closely connected to continuity of care. Many of the patients her organization serves are on Medicare or Medicaid or are uninsured. Provider turnover can add another challenge, creating gaps in care and making it difficult for patients to build lasting relationships with their health care providers.
Through her Advanced Healthcare Leaders project, “Improving APP Retention in an FQHC Setting,” Pernesky is working to understand why advanced practice providers (APPs), including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, leave and what can be done to encourage them to stay.
Pernesky has reviewed exit interview data and begun meeting with both newer and experienced APPs to better understand what keeps providers at the organization and what additional support they need.
Her goal is to improve retention and strengthen continuity of care for patients while creating opportunities for colleagues to voice concerns and feel supported, particularly during the first five years of practice, when turnover can be especially challenging.
Growing as a Leader to Support Lasting Change
Beyond her project, the Advanced Healthcare Leaders program has prompted Pernesky to reflect on her own approach to leadership.
Through leadership assessments and sessions on prioritization and delegation, she recognized her tendency to try to fix everything herself.
“Learning how to prioritize, as well as delegate has been very helpful,” she says.
For Pernesky, learning to delegate is about more than becoming a more effective leader. It’s about building the sustainability needed to continue serving patients, supporting colleagues, and strengthening her community for the long term.
Her project demonstrates how investing in health care leadership can create opportunities to strengthen the workforce and support more consistent, connected patient care.
Learn more about the Academy for Healthcare Leaders and how the program equips health care professionals to lead meaningful change.