Celecia Osborne, BSN, RN, has worn many hats during her career, including certified nursing assistant, health coach, and high school Spanish teacher. Her role in the rural outreach efforts of University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing allows her to use all her experience to reach underserved communities.
“What’s always been on my heart is that any knowledge I have, I want to make sure others have access to it,” she said.
A resident of Three-Way, Tennessee, near Jackson, Osborne joined the college as a part-time staff member through a grant that supported COVID vaccine education and vaccination efforts in six West Tennessee counties: Dyer, Lake, Tipton, Lauderdale, Fayette, and underserved parts of Shelby County. The $377,000 grant was from the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability (TCAD). Osborne’s work with the college has continued through a sub-award to the College of Nursing from the College of Medicine for a Centers for Disease Control grant.
Osborne worked with Assistant Professor Christie Manasco, PhD, RN, CNE, to make connections in rural communities throughout West Tennessee. Osborne has become the point person for the health fairs and activities offered by the college’s faculty and students over the last two years. During that time, college faculty members and students have been involved in more than 200 events – many of them at senior centers. They have interacted with more than 1,000 people annually in rural and underserved communities. In addition to providing health education, they offer recreation such as bingo games and craft projects.
“Celecia has been an integral part of our team for a couple of years now. Fortunately, she has agreed to stay onboard working as part of the mobile health unit program once the College of Medicine sub-award is over,” said Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Affairs Diana Dedmon, DNP, FNP-BC, the principal investigator on the $3.98 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to fund the Nursing Mobile Health Unit. The mobile unit serves Lake and Lauderdale counties.
Read more at our UTHSC news site.