WHERE SHE’S COMING FROM

Geffen currently calls Philadelphia, Pennsylvania home, where she works as a pediatric emergency nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Originally, though, she grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts.

COMPASSION FOR ALL 

It can be difficult as a health care provider to admit you don’t have the resources necessary to deliver appropriate care or that you’re not making a big enough difference in patients’ lives, something Geffen points to as having the potential to discourage nurses and cause moral injury. She says, “It can distance us from our passions, the reasons we entered this field in the first place. This moral injury is not only harmful to health professionals as individuals, but also threatens the overall wellbeing of our patient population and healthcare system.” Geffen combats her own feelings of distress by further engaging with her community—getting involved in organizing efforts and educating herself on the sociopolitical structures that have enabled today’s health inequities.

A FOCUS ON LGBTQ+ HEALTH

As a queer person with fluctuating access to health care throughout her life, Geffen knows the importance of having a provider who validates her identity and advocates for her care, as well as having the opportunity to stay with providers in the long-term. She says, “I seek to be a family nurse practitioner who accompanies my patients on their health care journeys and tirelessly fights for their care needs, while advocating for changes in our health care system that allow for consistent access to high-quality care.” She plans to focus on LGBTQ care in her practice as a Nurse Practitioner; she has a particular interest in working with adolescents and non-English speakers.