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Jessica Morrell, a Canton native who graduated from ��«Ӱҵ with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1999, has had an impressive career trajectory. From working as a nurse in the U.S. Air Force to opening her own clinic, Morrell is passionate about aiding others. 

Morrell decided to pursue a career in nursing at the age of 14. 

“I was in a bad car accident,” Morrell said. “I think the impact of the nursing staff while I was hospitalized made me want to go into that career.” 

While working toward her nursing degree at SDSU, Morrell was active in the Brookings chapter of the Student Nurses’ Association and the ROTC program. One of her fondest memories is traveling for clinicals with her classmates. 

“I’m passionate about helping people understand what could be contributing to their current health issues and how to empower them to reverse those impacts,” Morrell said. “I also truly value the relationships I have with my patients.” 

At SDSU, Morrell joined the Air Force and was commissioned on graduation day. 

“I landed a 12-week internship at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, and then my first assignment was at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls in Texas,” Morrell said. 

Morrell’s duties varied depending on what the situation was. 

“I worked a medical surgical floor, the emergency room and clinic setting.” Morrell said. “You’re caring for military families and retired military as well in a lot of locations.” 

Additional duties included making sure active-duty military were ready for deployment at all times. Morrell served in the Air Force for seven years, stationed at Lackland and Sheppard Air Force bases in Texas, Osan Air Base in the Republic of Korea, and Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. 

After the Air Force, Morrell decided to pursue graduate school, earning her Master of Science in Nursing as a women’s health nurse practitioner from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, with her research focusing on hormone therapy during the menopausal transition. Her work with pregnant women as a registered nurse led her to choosing women’s health as her graduate program. 

“The hormone transitions intrigue me the most, and I understand the impact you can have on someone’s life when their hormones are balanced. That is my passion. I want people living to their full potential and living quality lives as long as they can,” Morrell said. 

Morrell later worked as a nurse practitioner at an Avera Medial Group functional medicine clinic in Sioux Falls for nearly 13 years. The clinic closed in 2022. 

Functional medicine treats the root causes of chronic diseases through a patient-centered, science-based approach. Morrell has spent the majority of her professional career working with women during hormone transitions. 

In October 2022, Morrell opened Radiant Health and Hormone Therapy, PPLC, a clinic she currently owns and operates. She has a team of two other nurse practitioners, four registered nurses and some administrative employees. Morrell admits she didn’t put a lot of research into opening a clinic on her own, but she still managed to find success in building a team and caring for patients. 

“I had this panel of patients that I really didn’t want to leave, and I didn’t want to stop working, so I opened my own clinic,” Morrell said. 

“I just said, ‘We’ll figure it out,’ and that’s what we’ve done. I haven’t worked as much in my life as I do right now — I do the business aspect as well as the clinical aspect,” Morrell said, laughing. “It’s probably good that I didn’t do the research because I probably wouldn’t have done it. But it’s been an amazing experience. … We’ve been able to do a lot of things clinically that would’ve taken a lot of bureaucracy in a health care system, which is kind of fun.” 

Functional health for women focuses specifically on addressing their unique health concerns. Morrell’s clinic looks at the complex relationship between hormones, nutrition, genetics and lifestyle factors that can impact patients’ well-being, allowing the providers to create a plan to optimize their health. 

Aside from her clinic, another accomplishment Morrell takes pride in is her certification from the Institution for Functional Medicine, of which she was one of the first cohorts in the nation. 

“The (Institution for Functional Medicine) is kind of the godfather of functional medicine, so it was an over two-year process to get that certification,” Morrell said. 

Although she is a busy businesswoman and nurse practitioner, Morrell still finds time to spend time with her husband and three daughters. She also enjoys reading, cooking and hiking in her sparse spare time.