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Jackie Grunefelder is a lifesaving link to healthcare in rural North Dakota, filling a crucial role for her patients in a sparsely populated state.

Jackie, a family nurse practitioner who graduated from the University of Mary, drives 350 miles each week to see patients, dividing her time among several small North Dakota communities to ensure that people far from the state’s medical centers receive the medical care they need to stay in their home community.

This kind of personal connection with patients is the reason many healthcare graduates decide to serve in rural North Dakota. 

“It’s not just a job,” Jackie says. “Patients put their hand over mine and say, ‘I trust you.’”

Jackie’s philosophy of care is based on the example of the Benedictine Sisters at the University of Mary. “Be compassionate,” she says. “This is not just a career. It’s trying to instill the idea of being a steward of one’s community."