Executive Board

Dr. Penny Briese is a PhD-prepared nurse researcher with a passion for nurses' rights! SThe passage of the Healthcare Assault Bill in 2025 has been her highest achievement to date. She says, "We couldn't have done it without the voice of the North Dakota Nursing Students!" Penny started her career as a Nationally Registered EMT-Paramedic and just stumbled into nursing when she wanted to learn what happened on the other side of the ER doors. She graduated with her BSN from Jamestown College in 2004, having served as the 2003 North Dakota State Student Nurse of the Year, and worked in both the rural hospital and long-term care settings in Oakes, ND. She then earned her MS in Nursing Education and PhD in Nursing Research at the University of North Dakota and taught for many years at Jamestown College, now the University of Jamestown. She is now the owner of P Doc CPR, a mobile CPR/AED/First Aid training and certification unit. She is a very active member of Zonta International, an organization that seeks to build a better world for women and girls. "In a world where women's rights are recognized as human rights, no woman needs to live in fear of violence."

Bio coming soon!

After working as a CNA in long-term care for six years, Jackie graduated with her BSN in May 2016 from the University of Jamestown. She then went on to work at the North Dakota State Hospital, first on the chemical dependency unit and then as the charge nurse for the admission unit. In November 2021, she decided to go back to her roots in long-term care and accepted a position at Edgewood Assisted Living. It didn't take her long to realize that her real passion was mental health, and she returned to the specialty in October of 2022. Jackie has been working at South Central Behavioral Health Clinic since then and works primarily with children and adolescents. Jackie says, "Mental health truly is my calling and I take great pride in helping people in my community become their best self."