Centennial Spotlight: Arnice Jackson combines clinical care, passion for wellness

This article appears in the 100 Years Commemorative Issue of Rochester Nursing magazine. 

After her second semester in the bachelor’s program at the School of Nursing in 2010, Arnice Jackson ’11N, DNP, FNP-C, was in a bind. Her scholarship from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing program covered her first semester but she was struggling to find a way to pay for the third. “I didn’t feel like there was another option,” Jackson said. “I had to find a way to finish the program.” She was working in the Strong psych unit at the time and contemplated leaving school to work another year so she could qualify for tuition reimbursement.

Were it not for the support of the late Kathy Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, then professor of clinical nursing and pediatrics, Jackson questions whether she would be where she is today. Rideout and the late Elaine Andolina, MS, RN, then assistant professor, were coordinators of the Robert Wood Johnson New Careers in Nursing Scholarship program and helped Jackson get a scholarship that, together with her loans, enabled her to graduate.

“Kathy Rideout was my mentor,” Jackson said. “This was before she became the dean. She was just a phenomenal person, really invested in my growth... That scholarship changed my life because I was able to finish school. I don’t know what could have happened in that year if I didn’t. I might have never become a nurse. I could have moved back home. I’m very grateful to Kathy Rideout for believing in me, for coaching me, for being my mentor, and for honestly, just caring.”

And Jackson has made good use of her nursing education. She currently works as a nurse practitioner for the federal government at the U.S. Census Bureau, overseeing a health unit that delivers health and wellness services for the Census, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She’s in charge of wellness programming, clinical care for patients, and “making sure people have a safe, healthy environment to come into work.”

Previously, Jackson was involved in a telehealth program for One Medical, an Amazon company. There she worked with primary care physicians as an on-demand provider when patients needed urgent access or when a provider was not available outside of business hours. She answered medication questions and wrote orders for people who did not have access to healthcare or could not wait for an appointment because their need was urgent. She also taught a 6-week stress and anxiety management course to patients during the pandemic.

For Jackson, nursing has provided an opportunity to balance her interest in the science of clinical care with her appreciation for wellness. She has a natural inclination for science – as a kid she asked for a microscope for Christmas – but also sees herself as a “wellness strategist.”

“I am very passionate about wellness and work-life balance, and I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that you can have wellness regardless of your circumstances. Wellness is not a privilege; it is something that everybody has access to in different ways.”

As a nurse leader, about half of her work with the federal government focuses on wellness programming and the other half on clinical care and administration.

In her spare time, she runs a non-profit she established in 2015 called The Color of Health, which focuses on health education for patients and providers and on health equity. A large part of its work involves mentorship for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in healthcare. Students work with the organization to design a community health project for which they receive college credit. One student, for instance, did a service project in Kenya about health education, in which she created educational materials about menstrual cycles and period management.

For the future, Jackson hopes to continue spreading the word about wellness. “If I am working in a community clinic, if I’m working for a private organization, working for the government, my goal is to teach people about stress management... Having work-life balance is essential to surviving. My goal is teaching people how to care for themselves, how to function in a way that will help save their lives.”

Q: What are some of your fondest memories about living in Rochester?

“Coming from New York City and moving to Rochester was so different. Like the quiet and the nature. One of my favorite things to do was to walk. I remember I was walking one day [in Mount Hope Cemetery] and I stumbled upon Frederick Douglass’s tombstone. Rochester has so much interesting history, and I just felt comfortable there. I met a lot of people that I’m still in touch with today.”

Q: What advice would you give recent nursing graduates or those early in their careers?

“I cannot stress the importance of connection enough. A career as a nurse is so incredibly fulfilling. Connecting with other nurses, joining organizations, like nursing associations and alumni associations, staying in touch with the university — staying connected has been what has given me opportunities that I would have never thought about, has let me meet people like Loretta Ford, the founder of the nurse practitioner career. And that's because I was at the University of Rochester. They invited me to moderate a panel between her and Kathy Rideout. That's amazing! And I would have never gotten that opportunity if I hadn't stayed connected. So, find a cause that you're passionate about, invest in learning that area, invest in being a subject matter expert, make yourself available because this career is life changing.”

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