Team Feature: Jena Espinosa, PT

For the month of June, we are featuring team member and Physical Therapist, Jena Espinosa!

Jena received a Bachelor of Exercise Science from the University of Mary, Bismarck, ND before proceeding to earn a Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the same university. She is celebrating a decade of working as a Physical Therapist! Jena always felt drawn to the medical field in general and in high school, had the opportunity to shadow several different professions but did not feel connected to any of them. It was a serendipitous occurrence that she was offered an after-school job in the rehab unit of her small town’s hospital. It was not long before several of the therapists said to Jena, “you should consider doing this.” At the time, Jena didn’t exactly know what “this” really was, but she knew more than anything that she loved connecting with people and the opportunity to have time to really get to know them and help them work through something. 

“This career ended up having everything that I could possibly ever want and more. The time I've already spent as a PT has been a privilege and I look forward to continuing to grow in it for many years to come.”

More than anything else, Jena believes that the body truly needs to be addressed as a whole and that there is always a way to make things better for someone. Most of the five years Jena spent working in complex medical was spent in a rural outlet hospital where she became very familiar with serving those in a fragile medical conditions. Often, these individuals had many affected body systems, and she always saw a very diverse population of injuries. During the last five years, Jena worked on building a day program for individuals with brain injury and was pleased to bring on board many of the skills that are not typically found in the neurological setting, such as manual interventions for conservative pain management, increased function, and vestibular/ocular training.

Jena has been a clinical instructor (CI) for the last 10 years. Before she moved to Las Vegas, NV, she assisted with Physical Therapy student interviews and graded the neuro practicals for graduating students. She also participated in providing integrated clinical experiences for first-year students.  

Originally raised in Breckenridge, MN, Jena attended college, met her husband, and had their first child in Bismarck, ND, and will always consider that her hometown. She and her husband return there at least once a year to visit friends and family. Jena moved her family to Las Vegas, NV six years ago and they have loved every minute of it. Jena stated that she cannot think of another American city that has access to the diversity of things that Las Vegas does, “you can go hiking at Red Rock in the morning, shopping in Summerlin in the afternoon, to a show or concert in the evening, and back to your own bed with a twenty-minute Uber ride.” 

For Jena and her family, Las Vegas has also been a great city to live in while taking weekend trips to places like the Southern California beaches or hiking in Utah. More than all else, Jena finds that Las Vegas is actually a very family-friendly place to raise their children. Everything surrounding her children is her primary passion. Her second passion is learning, starting with her career and extending into anything she thinks is interesting. 

“My home life means everything to me, honestly, anything at all that I'm doing with my family is fun to me.” 

Whether Jena is taking the kids swimming, cooking at home, going out for a pizza night, doing random crafts and projects around their house, watching Marvel movies cuddled up on the couch, enjoying the sun in the backyard, or going for a little walk or hike, Jena’s family time is the most important to her. When she does get a moment to herself, she loves to read, workout, and listen to music, “and honestly, it must be something left over from childhood that never went away, but I love to just dream/think about anything and everything that comes to mind.” 

Thank you Jena, for providing such exceptional care and attention to your clients and for becoming a part of the Tilton’s Therapy team!