Geisinger School of Nursing ADN Viewbook 2024

GEISINGER SCHOOL OF NURSING

Launch a career with many paths for growth

Associate degree in nursing

A message from the director

When I think about nursing, I think about caring, kindness and compassion. When I think about nursing at Geisinger, I think of all of that and more. I think of opportunity. Teamwork. Respect. Encouragement. Nurses at Geisinger enjoy a supportive work environment where nurse voices are elevated, and nurse leadership is crucial. Nowhere is this more evident than in our approach to nurse education.

Our education focuses on hands-on experiences that connect students to patients right away. Supervised by skilled and supportive faculty, students gain the confidence to communicate with patients and families and deliver care at a phase of learning when many other programs still rely on lectures.

Nursing students at Geisinger are also exposed to the vast array of career opportunities available to nurses — interacting and being inspired by nurse leaders with whom they work daily. These role models demonstrate the myriad things a nurse can do and emphasize that these opportunities in research, advanced care, leadership and education are open to every learner right here at Geisinger. In fact, many of our students have a guaranteed job here before they even graduate.

Students who dream of caring for their neighbors, improving lives and accompanying patients on some of the most difficult journeys in life will make those dreams a reality almost as soon as they step onto our campus. If that sounds like your dream, you belong at Geisinger, and we welcome you!

Beth Finkbiner, MSN, RN Director Geisinger School of Nursing

Why consider a Geisinger School of Nursing education?

Nurses are in high demand.

At Geisinger School of Nursing, you can start a secure, rewarding career as a nurse in as little as two years. In fact, you can complete our advanced placement LPN-to-RN program in just three semesters.

Average RN starting salary: $73,220

Whether you’re beginning, growing or changing your career, a degree from Geisinger will put you on a flexible career path that can take you anywhere, from direct care to research and education — or even a leadership role.

Small class sizes mean highly personal experiences. Geisinger offers an affordable nursing degree program with educational excellence and hands-on clinical experience that will prepare you to deliver patient-centered care.

Many Geisinger students choose to become employees.

More than 70% of Geisinger School of Nursing graduates find a permanent home as a Geisinger employee (as of August 2023). A deeply rewarding career with Geisinger may be in your future!

About Geisinger Lewistown Hospital

Founded in 1908, Geisinger Lewistown Hospital has been a part of the Geisinger system since 2013, providing high-quality, coordinated, patient-centered care for residents of Mifflin County and beyond.

The hospital offers comprehensive services from professionals who combine worldclass care with a compassionate human touch. With many nationally recognized, award-winning specialty areas and modern facilities, Geisinger Lewistown Hospital offers virtually every type of care the community needs.

The hospital campus has grown over the decades to include the Geisinger School of Nursing. In 2022, Geisinger announced the school would transition from a diplomagranting to a degree-granting nursing school. The conversion to an associate degree in nursing provides program stability and a more solid steppingstone for students looking to advance their educations by next earning a BSN.

Our mission

Geisinger School of Nursing was founded to provide quality nursing education. We seek to engage a diverse group of students and to help them become leaders in providing competent and safe bedside nursing care.

Our philosophy

Nursing is a dynamic process of caring based on a theory-guided, evidence-based body of knowledge and established standards of professional practice. The focus of nursing practice is based on the patient-family’s level of functioning, preferences, values and needs. Nurses also focus on different dimensions of patient care which promote, maintain and restore wellness, including:

• Physiological

• Psychological

• Socio-cultural

• Developmental

• Spiritual

End of program student learning outcomes

At the end of the program, the graduate will:

• Model safe nursing care in diverse settings. (Safety)

• Collaborate with patients, families and members of the healthcare team to help the patient/family achieve optimal outcomes. (Teamwork and collaboration)

• Implement clinical judgment when providing patient-centered care. (Client-centered care and clinical judgment)

• Integrate data and technology for information-gathering, communication and clinical care. (Informatics)

• Practice within the ethical, legal and regulatory framework of nursing and standards of nursing practice. (Professionalism)

• Examine evidence-based research to guide nursing practice. (Evidence-based practice)

Accreditation

Accreditation is a process of peer review that the educational community has adopted for self-regulation since the early 20th century. It’s a voluntary process intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of higher education, making it worthy of public confidence. Institutions choose to apply for accredited status, and once accredited, they agree to abide by the standards of their accrediting organization and to regulate themselves by taking responsibility for their own improvement.

Effective Sept. 25, 2023, this nursing program is a candidate for initial accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. This candidacy status expires on Sept. 25, 2025.

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)

3390 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1400 Atlanta, GA 30326 404-975-5000

acenursing.org/candidacy/

Upon granting of initial accreditation by the ACEN Board of Commissioners, the effective date of initial accreditation is the date on which the nursing program was approved by the ACEN as a candidate program that concluded in the Board of Commissioners granting initial accreditation.

Geisinger College of Health Sciences is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) to award an associate degree in nursing, masters, and doctors degrees. MSCHE is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Inquires or complaints can be referred to Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market St., 2nd fl. West, Philadelphia, PA 19104 or by phone to 215-662-5501. Learn more at msche.org

One degree leads to astonishing array of career choices

For this career changer, nursing has accommodated every life priority.

Like many high school seniors, Alex Haines rejected the safe, sensible advice of his mother in favor of a more exciting future. “You know, my mom told me I should go into nursing out of high school, and I said, ‘Absolutely not. This is what I’m going to do,’” he said. “This” was to serve his community as a Pennsylvania State Trooper like his father.

Haines earned a degree in criminology but had difficulty finding a job. He started working as a security officer in the Emergency Department at Geisinger Lewistown, where he saw firsthand a career that appealed both to his sense of adventure and his desire to serve. “I spent a lot of time in the

emergency department, and I got to see the care, the compassion, the adrenaline, how you could change someone’s life in an instant and that’s when I started to fall in love with nursing,” he said.

While he was a student at the School of Nursing, a particular area of nursing captivated him. “I started seeing the Life Flight nurses come in and I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I started talking with them and figuring out what I had to do to arrive there. I did some fly-alongs with them and it was amazing. I did my capstone nursing school study on becoming a flight nurse.

So, I set those goals and worked my way up into it, starting at security to the emergency department as a nurse and then I set my goals for flight nurse. I got that five years later.”

It seemed Haines had everything he dreamed of as a high school senior. Action. Adventure. Service. But people grow and change, and Haines was no exception. He found himself at a career crossroads and felt the need to adjust his trajectory one more time.

“Life has a way of changing goals,” he said. “I had a daughter. So, while I was doing the job I loved, an opportunity came up with Trauma.

I never thought I would be a nurse behind a desk but here I am now, trauma program manager looking at the quality of our patient care, looking at risk and safety from the moment they come through our door to the time that they leave.”

Nursing has been the one constant for Alex through the twists and turns in his journey. His training has accommodated each one of his shifting priorities.

“I never thought I would feel this fulfilled behind a desk,” he said. “I never thought I’d feel this fulfilled as a manager. I always wanted to be the one providing direct care, but now I’m able to see that the things I do on a daily basis impact that direct care for the better, so much for the better. So, I’m grateful. I’ve had so many opportunities since becoming a nurse. There’s no other career like it.”

The human connection

Like heroic nurses of old, Marina Carellas finds patient bonds the greatest reward of caring.

As a child, Marina Carellas was drawn to stories about heroic nurses. “Some of my earliest memories are of going to the library and getting books about nursing. I liked the historical figures, anything inspiring like Florence Nightingale making nursing its own distinct profession. That got to me — how influential nurses can be.”

Carellas tried a four-year bachelor’s degree program but says she “wasn’t impressed.” “It wasn’t challenging me,” she said. “I didn’t think I was getting the education I wanted so I ended up leaving the program.”

Carellas worked at Geisinger Wyoming Valley for a year and grew curious about the Geisinger School of Nursing. All her general education credits from the undergraduate institution transferred and today, as a Geisinger student, Carellas has a bit of breathing

room. “I’ve just been focused on my nursing classes, which is amazing,” she said. “I know it’s harder for some other people who have to do their prerequisites. I’m not ahead but I guess you’d say school has been less of a burden for me.”

The ultimate joy for Carellas is in being very hands-on early with patients. “I’m not being biased at all. This program, with its clinicals, its labs, it’s very focused on making sure that you get to practice your skills. Everything is very skills-based and if you need help, you get it. It’s amazing, honestly. We get to practice things that we will have to do on real patients in the hospital, but we’re not coming in fresh, like a fish out of water. You come in with a very high degree of comfort.”

The skill Carellas is particularly grateful to practice is connecting with patients, especially in difficult situations. Like her early childhood heroes, Carellas is most moved by the deep human bonds a nurse can forge.

“My clinicals take place mostly in the Lewistown hospital and it has a cancer unit. I had a patient who was very young and was in the end stages of his disease. This was my first interaction with somebody having this horrible, horrible diagnosis.

I’d gone into his room before to go take vitals on him or something and he always tried to be very funny. He’d play around but you could tell there was a lot of sadness, and he was hiding it. So, I conversed with him and got to know him a little bit better and at the end of everything, just before I had to leave, I took his hand and held it and squeezed it and looked him in the eye and said, ‘I’m praying for you. I know that this is hard but I’m praying for you.’ And it was funny, just at that moment we made eye contact and that pretense, that bravado melted away. I could see that clearly in his eyes and he just squeezed my hand back. I will never forget the way he looked. He just said, ‘Thank you so much’ and he almost brought tears to both of our eyes. He’d been making light of his situation, and everybody was content to let him make light. It was moving to actually reach him on a different level.”

Like

family Faculty and staff support inspired this LPN to change her career trajectory.

When Brittney Peters was an LPN student 10 years ago, Beth Finkbiner, MSN, RN, was her instructor. Now Ms. Finkbiner is the director of the Geisinger School of Nursing and the person Peters calls “the reason why I’m going back to Geisinger School of Nursing for my RN.”

As an LPN, Peters works on a medical surgical floor of Geisinger Lewistown Hospital. She received encouragement from Finkbiner and all her former teachers to enter the School of Nursing to advance her career. “Beth Finkbiner is just the best,” she said. “And Jewel Peachey, she was actually an educator here at the hospital and is now my instructor.

So, I have a lot of experience working beside my instructors, which is fantastic.”

But even if she hadn’t known the faculty personally, Peters is confident these teachers would still make her feel welcome, inspired, and supported.

“The staff at the School of Nursing makes sure to remove every obstacle to learning. They help you overcome them. They’re not here to watch you fail — they want you to thrive and succeed just as much as you want to. They’re absolutely fine with spending more time with you if you need it.”

Faculty encouragement wasn’t the only thing that convinced Peters to take the plunge and go back to school. The school’s two-year timeframe and the Nursing Scholars Program were incentives too good to pass up.

“I was actually considering other nearby colleges. “I found a part-time BSN online —but it would take six years. Six years is a long time and I have young kids. Another thing about Geisinger is the Scholars Program. I

wouldn’t have been able to work full time, go to school full-time and raise my family. The Scholars Program allows me to work flextime while still watching my young kids grow up and go to school and it prevents my husband from having to work incredible amounts of overtime just to support our family.”

In the end, however, for Peters it’s still all about the Geisinger people.

“The staff has been amazing. They do all they can for working students to take that extra stress off of us, allowing us to concentrate on our schoolwork. Without their encouragement, I may have been an LPN for the rest of my life on the third floor of Lewistown Hospital, but now I am considering career options like nurse leadership or even education. A lot of things have opened up for me.”

Personal attention, work/life balance and personal support make Geisinger School of Nursing ‘too good to be true’

Adrean Fortuna is fulfilling a years-long dream of being a Geisinger RN.

For Adrean Fortuna, Geisinger’s School of Nursing has so many positives, she’s returned the favor by paying it the ultimate compliment. She recommended the program to a friend who is now a few semesters behind her.

“The thing I think I am most grateful for — and why I encouraged my friend — is that I get to spend more time at home, if that makes sense,” she said. “The program fits into your schedule. Even on our long class days, I’m done by the time my kids are out of school so I can be there to get them off the bus, get dinner ready.”

Fortuna’s happy ending at Geisinger School of Nursing has been 12 years in the making. “When I graduated LPN school, Geisinger was the place that everyone wanted to be,” she said. “We all knew they treated their employees very well. The benefits were good. The pay was good. I was just too new to get in, unfortunately,” she said. “I found another job working with plasmapheresis, and I worked there for more than five years and then a position opened up at a Geisinger location in cardiology.”

Now a Geisinger employee, Fortuna learned about the Nursing Scholars Program, and it sounded so good that she was sure she was missing something. “The Scholars Program seemed too good to be true, but it definitely piqued my interest,” she said. Happily, she soon found her understanding was completely accurate. “The staff at the school laid everything out for me and if I had any questions, they got the answers right back to me. It’s really easy and that’s just awesome.”

As she’s progressed in her learning, Fortuna said she continues to be impressed by the support and care the school’s faculty and staff provide.

“Beth Finkbiner was actually one of my LPN instructors and then I also had her in the clinical setting at the hospital. She and all the faculty always have enough one-on-one time with each student. Over a weekend I reached out to one of my instructors with some questions and she got back to me quickly. I appreciate that personal attention.”

Advocate, caregiver, innovator, educator

This nurse says every aspect of her career is a calling — one that can strike people at any stage of life.

Lauren Weaver knows all about being a traditional student — and she knows all about being a nontraditional student. She knows what it’s like to be called to nursing as an idealistic high school student, and she knows what it’s like to agonize over a career change as a mother with small children. She knows what it’s like to be young, nervous and alone with your first patient, and she knows what it’s like to mentor such a learner into a confident practitioner. The richness and diversity of her experience is why she’s so passionate about nursing. And why she wants to inspire others.

“I want to inspire people to choose nursing or to go back to school to be a nurse because it really is a calling. You’re with people in their most vulnerable times. We see them at their best and we see them at their worst.

We’re advocates for them. We’re there for them when they don’t have families. Think about it — through COVID, families weren’t able to visit. Who was there? The nurses. So yes, I would love to be an inspiration to anybody who’s considering going back to school. If it’s your passion, you can do it. Absolutely.”

Weaver backs up her encouraging words with her own experience. Her nursing journey showcases the breadth of the profession and the endless possibilities it offers. She has worked in home health, inpatient care, as a per-diem nurse and now as a nurse educator. Along the way, she’s added a master’s degree to her BSN and is now seeking nurse educator credentials.

Her first job was a nurse extern position at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, which turned into an inpatient nursing job. From there, Weaver went into home health and hospice, which she found personally fulfilling. “I spent at least four years doing home health and hospice and Ioved it – I still do — but I was ready to slow down because I was pregnant with my third child,” she said. With the relationships she had established at Geisinger, she was able to move into a per diem role, once again at the Lewistown Hospital. It was there that the possibility of being a nurse educator arose.

“I knew (School of Nursing director) Beth Finkbiner because she grew up in the same area and she was always at the hospital with students,” Weaver said. “She would ask me, ‘Hey, when are you coming over to the school?’ Her encouragement is what made me decide to move over to education.”

“The best thing about teaching is seeing my students’ growth, their skills, their confidence,” she said. “It’s rewarding to see them figuring it out — seeing when things click for them in the setting clinical and they’re like, ‘Oh we just learned about this in theory, but here we are in clinical taking care of a person with congestive heart failure’ and it all just makes sense. I love that.”

One other thing drives her in her role as preceptor and teacher — the dire need for nurses.

“I wouldn’t say it’s funny, but when I graduated from college in 2009, I honestly couldn’t find a job,” she said. “There just wasn’t this overabundance of positions available. And now we’re experiencing this shortage and Pennsylvania might be one of the worst as far as the nursing shortage goes. It’s a good feeling knowing that Geisinger School of Nursing is contributing to the health system — that I am contributing, not just as an educator but as a pipeline for locally grown talent. If you look at the demographics, there’s no shortage of local talent. So, our school increasing enrollment and then doing the dual enrollment, it’s just a great change and we are truly helping our communities and our neighbors.”

About the program

At Geisinger School of Nursing, you’ll benefit from:

• Hands-on training

• Small class sizes

• In-depth clinical exposure

• Experienced and dedicated faculty

ADN Program information

Geisinger School of Nursing offers one program of study in professional nursing. After completing the program, you’ll receive an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN). You’ll then be eligible to apply for the National Licensure Exam (NCLEX-RN) to become a registered nurse.

The ADN program is a total of 70 credits. The nursing courses, totaling 46 credits, will be offered by Geisinger School of Nursing. The remaining 24 credits are general education courses. We’ve partnered with HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, to offer these courses to our students.

If you haven’t completed your general education courses before starting the RN program, you’ll need to complete them in the evening during or before the semester listed. All general education courses must be completed before your final semester.

Note to incoming LPNs: LPN-to-RN students will begin in the third semester and complete 54 credits in total. Of those, 30 nursing credits will be offered by Geisinger School of Nursing. The following general education courses must be completed prior to starting the third semester: Anatomy & Physiology 1 and 2, General Psychology and Lifecycle Development.

Plan of study

Geisinger School of Nursing offers a five-semester plan of study. Fall and spring semesters are 16 weeks and summer semesters are 12 weeks.

Admissions requirements

Geisinger College of Health Sciences seeks to admit talented, community-minded students who wish to pursue the nursing profession using a holistic review of students’ metrics, attributes and experiences.

Admission requirements:

1. High school education – You must have completed work equivalent to a high school education.

An official high school transcript or GED is required.

2. The following coursework:

» Four units of English

» Three units of social studies

» Two units of mathematics (including algebra)

» Two units of science (general biology and general chemistry) with a related laboratory or the equivalent

3. Grade point average (GPA) – A “C” grade or better is required in algebra, general biology and general chemistry and each must be one full credit. C-minus won’t be accepted.

4. Testing – You may take an entrance exam. The following tests are acceptable (but not required) for consideration for admission for the program:

» The ATI TEAS test

» National League for Nursing Preadmission Examination for RN

» ACT or SAT

5. Postsecondary education – If you’ve completed post-secondary coursework at an accredited university, you must submit a transcript(s) and detailed course description(s) for evaluation of academic achievement and possible credit transfer.

6. Citizenship – You must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of the United States.

7. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required for applicants whose first language is not English.

Student life

Social life

As a Geisinger School of Nursing student, you’ll enjoy a vibrant, supportive social life beyond the classroom. The campus buzzes with activity as students engage in a wide array of social events and extracurricular activities, fostering a sense of community and camaraderie. Students collaborate and learn from one another, strengthening their academic knowledge and friendships.

Volunteering

Enriching volunteer opportunities seamlessly connect the institution with the broader community. These opportunities emphasize the importance of giving back and understanding the real-world impact of nursing. Every semester, students are encouraged to participate in at least two volunteer activities that strengthen their practical skills and instills a profound sense of empathy and social responsibility. Students become involved in various community projects, from free blood pressure screenings and vaccination drives to outreach programs at local schools. These experiences enhance nursing skills and broaden students’ perspectives, enabling them to apply their knowledge in diverse and meaningful ways.

Student sucess

Career support services and wellness

Geisinger School of Nursing students benefit from comprehensive career support services and wellness initiatives tailored to their needs. Faculty members fill multiple roles, serving not just as educators but also as dedicated advisors. They offer personalized guidance in career planning, providing invaluable insights into the nursing profession and helping students chart their paths toward successful careers. Students may also choose to be paired with a member of an upper class for “near peer” mentoring.

The school prioritizes student wellness, recognizing the importance of a balanced lifestyle in nurturing future healthcare professionals. Wellness coaching is built into the curriculum. Through various programs and resources, students are encouraged to prioritize self-care, looking out for their overall well-being while navigating the rigors of nursing education. This holistic approach makes sure students at the Geisinger School of Nursing are prepared — academically, emotionally and professionally — for the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead in their nursing careers.

Financial aid

The Financial Aid Office can help you identify financial resources to achieve your educational goals while managing the cost of attendance. You can connect with a financial aid advisor by emailing nursingfinancialaid@geisinger.edu.

Ready to apply?

Application process

Geisinger School of Nursing accepts applications for two start terms: fall (beginning in August) and spring (beginning in January). Select which start term works best for your schedule and future goals.

1. Complete your School of Nursing application.

2. Request official high school transcript and/or GED transcript if applicable.

3. Standardized test scores are optional, but can be added to your application material.

4. Request official college and/or postsecondary education transcripts (past or current) if applicable.

5. Submit LPN license if applicable.

6. Request 3 letters of recommendation. Letters can be uploaded or sent directly to gchsnursing@geisinger.edu

Contact us at:

Geisinger School of Nursing

400 Highland Ave. Lewistown, PA 17044

717-242-7930

Fax: 717-242-7933

gchsnursing@geisinger.edu

geisinger.edu/son

Geisinger College of Health Sciences is committed to non-discrimination in all employment and educational opportunities.