UNH Today

In a determined blend of ambition and creativity fueled by a love of learning, Jamie Bourgeois plays at full strength along every step of her path.

A practicing nurse midwife in New Hampshire, she placed her career on hold when her child was born. The need to remain fully engaged, however, sparked an idea for a stay-at-home business – Bourgeois Baby – using her crafting skills to design, sew and sell baby bibs online.

Pondering the next steps of her professional life, Bourgeois felt the need to broaden her focus so she enrolled in the UNH psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) online program. Mirroring her growing interest in the continuum of patient care, the UNH post master’s graduate certificate helped kickstart a career pivot.

“The supportive, down-to-earth UNH faculty treat students as respected professionals and they understand the flexibility needed for work-life balance. The nursing department’s reputation for professional rigor and the high level of student scholarship results in graduates who are quickly scooped up in the job market. The UNH PMHNP online program is the best choice I could have made for my nursing career,” Bourgeois says.

Bourgeois juggled her own graduate studies with her role as a UNH adjunct nursing professor, instructing undergraduate students in the hospital setting during their clinical rotation. Fully committed to the “stewardship of nursing,” she introduces students to the principles and application of psychiatric and therapeutic communication in patients experiencing mental illness.

Accepting a position with The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, Bourgeois has embraced the shift from reproductive nursing to the care of the family unit in her role as a nurse practitioner in their child and adolescent department.

Driven by a natural curiosity coupled with a need to serve the “science of nursing,” Bourgeois plans to enroll in the nursing Ph.D. program at the University of Massachusetts Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing Center. Her goal is to contribute to the body of foundational research data needed to support evidence-based decision-making in the field.

Smiling at a childhood memory of “playing nurse” with her toy medical kit, Bourgeois twinkles with satisfaction at the thought that her doctoral degree graduation will coincide with her daughter’s high school graduation.