Spotlight On Our Nursing Dept

SGU Director of Nursing Retires

 
 
DeAnn Eastman-Jansen is an enrolled member of the Sicangu Oyate and a lifelong resident of the Rosebud Reservation. Her parents were Victor Eastman and Cynthia (Rogers) Eastman. Her grandparents were Rufus Eastman, Charlotte (Young) Eastman and Robert Rogers and Irene (Bordeaux) Rogers. She has been married to Fred Jansen for 34 years DeAnn has 3 children, 4 amazing grandchildren and many other relatives and friends. She feels truly blessed.
 
DeAnn grew up in St. Francis, SD.  As a young girl, she spent a lot of time, in the community of Grass Mountain, at her grandparent’s place along the river and she frequently accompanied her mother to the homestead of her mother’s relatives along the river near White River, SD.
 
The only time DeAnn left the reservation was for military service and higher education. She was always encouraged to obtain an education and return to the reservation to help her people.  DeAnn achieved this goal by being involved in one type of nursing or another for the last 32+ years.
 
Growing up on the Rosebud Reservation allowed DeAnn to learn the importance of humility, to avoid bragging oneself up, but she has had an illustrious career that we want to acknowledge.  DeAnn was in the Army Reserves and National Guard for 8 years as a lab tech and field medic, first with the 311 MASH Unit then with the 730th Medical Clearing Company and made the rank of Sergeant E-5. She served in the USPHS for 21 years and made the rank of Commander 0-5.  DeAnn got her BSN and MSN from South Dakota State University (SDSU) and is a proud Jackrabbit! Go Jacks!
 
DeAnn worked for the Indian Health Service for 21 years of her nursing career in all areas of nursing. She started on the medical/surgical, pediatric and obstetric units, but has also worked in the surgical department, outpatient department, Emergency department, Women’s Health department, Public Health Nursing department.  She worked as a Case Manager and was one of the first case managers in the Indian Health Service, she also worked as an Infection Control nurse, employee health nurse, certified diabetes educator, SANE Team member, Incident Command Team member, POD team member and a member of Nursing Administration.  She was also acting deputy CEO at the Rosebud Indian Health Service for several months during a period of transition there. She worked as an RN and an FNP during her nursing career.
 
In the years since DeAnn left the Indian Health Service, she worked at the Todd County School District and St. Francis Indian School as a school nurse.  Over her career she has also worked for private sector hospitals and clinics in the area and has made many friends and colleagues over the years.
 
DeAnn assisted the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and SGU during the COVID-19 pandemic. She experienced personal loss of family members, her beloved Tunwin (Aunt) Betty Young and a few other family members to COVID-19 before the vaccine was available.  Not only is DeAnn an advocate for the COVID-19 vaccination, but for all vaccinations and immunizations her entire career.  She helped get the immunization clinics at the schools. She administered thousands of immunizations during her career and never had any serious adverse reactions during the entire 32+ years of her nursing career.
 
She has also been deployed to assist with natural disasters such as hurricanes in the United States with her service in the USPHS.  She was involved in setting up and working in the hospital portions of the shelters that were set up to assist those displaced and adversely affected by the hurricanes or other disaster. She worked with members of the USPHS, Red Cross, FEMA and other local response teams.
 
DeAnn’s history with SGU began as a pre-nursing student.  She enrolled in Medical Terminology, and other prerequisite classes to get into nursing school at SDSU.
 
After acquiring her nursing degree and becoming a licensed RN, DeAnn taught as an adjunct instructor at SGU for many years since 1996.  She was a full-time instructor at SGU beginning in 2011, and in 2012 became the Director of Nursing (DON) for the SGU Nursing Program.  She went back to work for the Indian Health Service for a few years in 2013 eventually returning to SGU as the DON in 2016 where she remained for the last 6 years. She is very grateful to Leksi, President Lionel Bordeaux for giving her the opportunity to work at SGU for all of these years, and is grateful for having had the opportunity to work with the people of the Rosebud.  DeAnn has enjoyed every minute of it.  SGU wishes DeAnn good luck in her retirement!

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Meet The Nursing Department

Rhonda Lee Jackman is the new Director of Nursing for Sinte Gleska University.  She and her husband Steve moved from Dallas, Texas to Rosebud in March of 2022 to serve here as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Rhonda has 45 years of experience working with children in the NICU, PICU, Children’s Emergency Room and Pediatric out-patient settings.  She worked as the NICU Clinical Manager at Baylor University Medical Center and then managed their out-patient clinic for Medically Fragile and Premature Infants. She and her husband have 6 children and 26 grandchildren that they adore.  They spend any time off hiking, exploring, and keeping in contact with family and friends.

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I am Laura (Laurie) Dunn, RN, MSN, Certified Nursing/Healthcare Educator, a nursing faculty professor at Sinte Gleska University since September 2017. During the last 48 years in nursing, I have observed and experienced many healthcare settings and changes in administration, technologies, professional staffing, and the roles of nursing in locales of South Dakota, Alaska and Montana. I enjoy travels, vacations, animals and nature. I proudly tell my family and friends that I have happiness and fulfillment in my work with the SGU Nursing Program faculty and gifted nursing students.

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Greetings!  I am Marissa Bordeaux, Administrative Assistant for the Nursing Department since March 2022. Prior to coming to Sinte Gleska I spent three years at the Department of Social Services working my way from Secretary to Social Worker, my time before that was spent in the customer service industry all the while maintaining the same goal of just wanting to help people in whatever I could. My career goal since I was a young girl has always been to be in the healthcare field, I always felt I was a natural caregiver especially after becoming a mother to two wonderful boys; and with the amazing Nursing Staff here at SGU, my passion has only grown! I plan to continue to pursue my degree in Nursing and/or Health Information technology to continue to contribute to our wonderful program here. During my down time, I love to spend time off with my family, exploring, swimming and teaching my children to just live in the moment! 
 

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Michelle Allen is an LPN.  She graduated from SGU in 2012.  She will be returning to Mitchell Tech this fall to finish her RN degree.   She started her career as a nurse working in the Home Healthcare program.  She worked for a time as a clinical nurse, then worked with our elders in the Nursing home setting. She was hired at SGU in the fall of 2017 to teach the CNA class in the nursing department.  She loves her job and enjoys working with the students.  She and her current colleagues make a great team and are very excited about helping the Nursing Program thrive. 
She and her late husband, Roger D. Allen, moved from Draper, Utah to Todd County in 1991.  They have one daughter and ten sons!  She loves being a grandmother, she has 12 granddaughters and almost 8 grandsons.    

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Sharon Egleston, LPN graduate of Sinte Gleska University 2011, I have lived here with my husband on a ranch outside of White River and have been working as a nurse in Long Term Care, Clinic and Hospital since 2010. I have two beautiful children, Zoe 3 ½ years old and Wesley 1 ½ years old. They are the reason for my desire to continue to grow in my nursing experience. I am loving the opportunity to Tutor/ Mentor nursing students here at Sinte Gleska.

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Nursing Staff (Michelle Allen )and Students

Nursing Students and Staff