Jessica Beneway '17, RN (Photo provided)
One particular class changed the career trajectory of Jessica Beneway ’17.
“Geneseo provided me with the freedom to choose what I was interested in,” says Beneway. She embraced the college’s interdisciplinary liberal arts approach, graduating with a major in Spanish and minors in both biology and psychology. However, it was an anthropology course exploring childbirth in America that captured her attention and, she says, “changed her perspective on health care.”
Beneway now combines elements of all her fields of study into her current position as a nurse home visitor for Nurse-Family Partnership, a national program that works to promote healthy perinatal care in underserved communities.
“I visit 25 families every other week, talking about promoting health during pregnancy and child development, until the child is two years old,” she says. “It’s totally voluntary, and it’s free. I’m very proud of the work we do.”
Research has shown that, for individuals living in poverty, home visits by public health nurses such as Beneway can improve health outcomes for children and families. Beneway’s foundation in biology and psychology has been critical to her current position, but her Spanish language skills have also helped her clients navigate access to our complex public benefit programs.
“About half of the families I work with are Spanish-speaking,” she says. “Most have been in the United States for less than two years. For many of them, I’m the only English speaker they know. The biggest impact I’ve made in this job has been to translate the healthcare system for people.”
Beneway, who earned a BS as a registered nurse after Geneseo, is now pursuing her master’s degree as a psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner. She hopes to specialize in perinatal mental health: post-partum depression and other mental health disorders related to changes in hormonal cycles. To that end, she’s also working as a research assistant with a team developing a mobile application to provide perinatal mental health support to those who wouldn’t otherwise have good access to that care. Her familiarity with the target community is helping the developers tailor the app to their intended audience.
Combining the varied skills and knowledge gained from her Geneseo studies has led Beneway to a career she calls intense but rewarding.
“I’ve been able to connect with people really, really deeply,” she says. “Anyone who is interested in nursing should know that jobs like this exist where you are able to work closely with families and communities in this way.”
Learn more about Geneseo’s academic departments of anthropology, biology, psychology and neuroscience, and global languages and cultures.