With almost two decades of expertise in the field of medicine, Jennifer H. Thompson, MS, MPH, RN, presently specializes in regulatory management. She first began her journey in health care with a mind to become a physician, and later a physician’s assistant. However, once she was exposed to the field of nursing, which she found to be a much more versatile area of medicine, she changed her trajectory and earned her nursing degree. Since 2018, she has excelled as the manager of quality and compliance with Bon Secours Mercy Health, having been active in the quality and compliance department for five years prior to her appointment as manager. In looking toward the future, her professional goals include striving to reach a director position, or even higher.
Prior to joining the Bon Secours Mercy Health regulatory team, Mrs. Thompson found success in their staff development department, where she notably developed and standardized a new graduate registered nurse education program. This program went on to become the standard for seven hospitals in the Richmond and Hampton Roads, Virginia, area. As a result of this achievement, Ms. Thompson was honored with a recognition for excellence in staff development through the Central Virginia Association of Nursing Professional Development.
Knowing that she wanted to enter the health care field by the time she reached college, Mrs. Thompson first obtained a Bachelor of Science in health sciences from James Madison University in 2001. She then went on to join the Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing, where she received certification as a registered nurse in 2003. Following these accomplishments, she sought further graduate education at Virginia Commonwealth University and, in 2009, she earned the dual degrees of a Master of Public Health and a Master of Science in community nursing.
Alongside her primary career responsibilities, Ms. Thompson has contributed her skills as a medical professional to her local community, serving as a member of the School Health Advisory Board of Chesterfield County, Virginia. Married to her husband, Ashley, for many happy years, they are together the proud parents of two wonderful children, Scott and Kevin. Having been continually motivated and inspired by her mentor, Michael Pickels, Ms. Thompson herself would advise young and aspiring professionals that it is all right if their career does not take a straight path and that they can still achieve a career doing something they love even if it might not be how they first anticipated it happening.