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JUANITA HELWIG

BSN STUDENT

When Pennsylvania native Juanita Helwig was 12 years old, her
mom was diagnosed with cancer. Watching her battle the disease
for many years and also return to school for her GED and become a
Licensed Practical Nurse when Juanita was nine years old had quite the
impact—and influenced her own path. “Seeing what she had done rubbed
off on both my younger sister and I, and we both went on to become
nurses,” says Juanita, who had started her post-high school career as a
medical transcriptionist at Geisinger Medical Center, working the evening
shift. When the opportunity arose to attend nursing school during the day
through Geisinger’s nursing diploma program, she jumped at it. In 1992,
Juanita became a Registered Nurse.

Gaining pediatric oncology experience

Juanita worked on a unit where she cared for both adolescent and
adult patients for two years before moving to Geisinger’s brand-new
Janet Weis Children’s Hospital when it was built in 1994. Janet Weis
Children’s Hospital’s third floor is the only inpatient unit that administers
chemotherapy to pediatric oncology patients at Geisinger. She has worked
with children of all ages for her entire career other than a stint as a nurse at
Geisinger Shamokin Area Community Hospital.
In 2004, Juanita returned to the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital full time
on the Adolescent Oncology Unit. In recent years, she also worked part
time for Visiting Nurse Association Private Duty and as a substitute school
nurse. “Geisinger is a wonderful place to work,” says Juanita. “I’ve had
great opportunities here and I’m grateful for that.”

Motivated to earn a BSN

In November 2015, Juanita decided “somewhat on a whim” to check out
BSN programs. “I never pictured myself going back to school, but I’d
been hearing for a while about the push for all nurses at Geisinger and
elsewhere to hold a BSN,” she says. “I decided I didn’t want someone to
have to tell me to do it. I wanted to further my education on my own terms.”

On the recommendation of a few colleagues, she looked at American
Sentinel University, an educational partner of Geisinger. “The flexibility of
the program was the main thing that attracted me at first,” Juanita says.
She started the program in February 2016. “I’d heard it was a great BSN
program too, and it definitely has been. I’ve been a nurse for so long, but
this pushed me to think beyond bedside nursing. I’ve enjoyed the classes
and learned a lot.” www.americansentinel.edu

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