2021 Family Nurse Practitioner Preceptor Excellence Award Winner: Women’s Health
Felecia Ernst, MSN, APN, FNP-C
Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation, 4 Memorial Drive Building B, Suite 210, Alton, IL
Email: fernst@sihf.org cell phone: 618-334-3144. Available for comment or interview Please do not release to public
Ms. Ernst is a SIUE Alumni
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.
Master of Science in Nursing 2017
Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville
Felecia Ernst, FNP-C
SIHF, Alton
Nominated by: Kourtney Chapman
“Felecia Ernst is a great clinical preceptor! She encourages students to be independent by allowing us to conduct and guide patient interviews and assessments. She is always willing to explain why she chose certain treatment options and which other options could also be used. She encourages the use of clinical resources, such as UpToDate, and references these resources often when developing plans of care for patients. Whenever providing feedback, she gives it in an encouraging way. When starting this clinical, I was very nervous because I had never provided care to women's health patients before. However, she helped me to become more confident in my skills for assessing and providing care for this population. Felecia has a very up-beat attitude with her students, patients, and co-workers and is a great model for future NPs. Additionally, Felecia was willing to take on several students per semester because she is aware that women's health can be a hard area to find preceptors in”
2nd Nomination
Felecia Ernst, FNP-C
SIHF, Alton
Nominated by: Jordan Smith
“Felecia was truly one of the best preceptors I have had throughout my time in education. When starting a clinical rotation, every student is nervous. In undergraduate nursing, it is nerve-wrecking, and you have an instructor and group with you! In graduate school, it is even more intimidating, going to sites you have never been to and meeting providers you have never met in real life! However, Felecia made the experience so enjoyable. From the beginning, Felecia was warm, welcoming, and friendly. By day two of the rotation she had me performing all of the PAP smears, under her supervision, and allowing me to do all patient assessments. However, she always checked that I was comfortable with what I was doing. Felecia promoted critical thinking and enabled clinical decision making by always asking what I thought we should do for the patients. She was aware that I had no OB or L&D experience prior to the semester, and was aware that I had to finish my hours very early into the semester. Because of this- she spent a lot of effort educating me on the "why" behind each of our treatment plans. Felecia also spends a great deal of time educating her patients, which allowed me even more education as I was able to hear how she explains treatment plans for patients and answers their questions. Felecia frequently looked up current guidelines in order to confirm her treatment plan was up to date, thus modeling evidence-based practice. I was sad that my time with Felecia in my women's health rotation had to come to an end. I know Felecia has precepted many SIUE students, including many in my own rotation. I hope there are students who will be able to learn from her in the future as well :)”
