Jenna Ford, MSN, APN, CPN, PCNS-BC, is an advanced practice nurse in pediatric neurosurgery for OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute, where she leads the Concussion Clinic. She also spends countless hours outside of the clinic educating the community on concussion prevention and management, and works with local high school athletic trainers to ensure the highest level of care is provided to injured athletes.
Ford previously served as assistant manager of acute care pediatrics at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center/Children’s Hospital Illinois. She was a recipient of the Sister Mary Ludgera Memorial Award for Outstanding Master’s Student in Nursing at OSF Saint Francis College of Nursing and the OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center Nursing Excellence Award for Empowerment.
Since 2014, Ford has served as clinical faculty at Illinois State University, working as a clinical instructor overseeing nursing students’ hands-on clinical experience at Children’s Hospital of Illinois. She also utilizes her skills in medicine to benefit the community, volunteering at a camp for kids with Type 1 diabetes and the Mitchell “J.J.” Anderson and Dana Davis Basketball Camp. In addition, she has participated in the Children’s Hospital Radiothon and St. Jude Washington to Peoria Run, and volunteered for Taste of Peoria and the Tailgate & Tallboys music festival.
Ford is dedicated to Friends of the Children of Haiti, a Peoria-based nonprofit medical organization that provides care to more than 10,000 patients each year at a clinic in southern Haiti. She has directly participated in a dozen two-week medical mission trips to the country, helping to lead volunteers from across the United States. She has been a board member since 2014 and has served as secretary for the past three years, in addition to serving on a subcommittee that reviews and advises on clinic guidelines and pharmacy formulary. As supply manager, she orders supplies for mission trips, maintains inventory at the warehouse in Morton, and coordinates with the pharmacy director. iBi
