Geisinger nurse educator advocates for women’s health issues

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May 18 — DANVILLE — Elissa Concini, of Milton, is one of Geisinger’s biggest advocates for women’s health.

Since entering the health system 14 years ago, the expectant mother of three has worked in labor and delivery, coordinated childbirth classes, served as a nurse educator for labor and delivery nurses, worked as a quality nurse and women’s health safety and, most recently, he took on a role as a sexual assault examiner.

“When I first met Elissa in 2017, I quickly recognized her enthusiasm to do more and learn more,” said her supervisor, Dr. Sandra Culbertson, president of the Women and Children’s Institute. “She was curious to learn. So we hired her for a new women’s health program. She became the director of quality nursing for women’s health. Over the next five years, Elissa blossomed and was instrumental in the development of a standardized delivery program throughout the Geisinger hospital system.

One of the remarkable things about Elissa, Culbertson noted, is the role she has. “She has to interact with a variety of students. Maybe nursing students or medical students or staff members and adjust her message to fit the audience.”

Concini is originally from Dunmore and when she was 10 years old she came to Geisinger with her grandfather on several visits for health reasons.

“Even then I was fascinated with the hospital. I never knew I wanted to be a nurse until my senior year of high school,” she said. “I knew healthcare would be a career for me, but I wasn’t sure nursing would be.”

He followed a nurse into an operating room and that’s when he realized nursing was what he wanted to do.

Women’s health became her passion in college when her grandmother passed away from cervical cancer. While studying nursing at Bloomsburg University, she said she became very passionate about the entire spectrum of women’s health care.

Ironically, she said, “if you had asked me what I wanted to be before I went to college, I would have been a nurse or a teacher. I applied to nursing, but teaching was always in the back of my mind.”

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“As nurses, we teach every day,” Concini said. “To our patients, our colleagues. We’re constantly learning and sharing information. That’s definitely a big part of my current role.”

Concini services all Geisinger facilities that have inpatient OB labor and delivery units, as well as outpatient clinic sites.

Geisinger has five labor and delivery units within the system and more than 10 clinics, he said.

“In our region, I will look for any improvement opportunities for patient care, safety and quality of care,” he said.

For example, he said, “during the pandemic, it was constant information, making sure every staff member got the updates, making sure everyone knew how to keep themselves safe and patients safe.”

Concini wears many different hats, he said. “But when you think about it, nurses wear a lot of different hats. So it’s really just a reflection of my chosen profession.”