Faces of Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic: Jennie Hettinger

This series spotlights non-provider colleagues who are helping create a safe, healing and compassionate environment both in and out of the hospital.

For many breast cancer patients, receiving a positive diagnosis is one of the darkest moments of their life. There are feelings of fear, sadness and confusion as they grapple with this news and wonder what the months ahead will entail. Luckily, patients at St. Mary Medical Center are guided every step of the way—from diagnosis to recovery—by a dedicated team of nurse navigators, including Jennie Hettinger, RN, BSN, OCN.

In her role, Hettinger meets with each new breast cancer patient (as well as some with uterine, lung and colon cancer) that comes through the hospital. Throughout their journey to survivorship, she essentially does it all, serving as an advocate, point of contact and voice of encouragement.

Hettinger helps coordinate appointments, serving as a middle person between different disciplines; locates community resources if a patient has food insecurity; conducts patient education around breast cancer treatment; and secures financial assistance and grants. One time, she even helped a patient find different insurance after the original plan wouldn’t cover a $36,000 surgery.

But her efforts don’t stop there.

“I tell people they can call me for anything—if they don’t know where to park, if they don’t know what time their appointment is, if they need me to talk to their sister about their diagnosis because they don’t know what to tell her,” says Hettinger. “That’s what we’re here for. Our role is so vast. If you’re nervous about anything, always reach out to your navigator.”

Patients can call Hettinger anytime and they’ll never have to wait more than 24 hours for a call back. If they leave a message overnight, she’ll reach out first thing when she gets into the office at 8 a.m.

The perfect fit

According to Hettinger, nurse navigation is the ideal role for her … she just didn’t know it existed until later in her career. After graduating nursing school in 2007, she landed an externship at a hospital in bone marrow transplant, where she worked for eight years. She then transitioned to outpatient oncology in a chemotherapy setting, where she remained for 12 years. It was when she switched to outpatient care that Hettinger learned about nurse navigation and immediately took an interest.

“I was reading about it and said, ‘I think that job was made for me.’ It’s everything I love to do wrapped up in a nutshell,” says Hettinger. “I get to follow patients from the beginning to the end, to survivorship and beyond.”

In fact, Hettinger travels from South Jersey to Langhorne daily because she enjoys her role and the community hospital feel of St. Mary so much. Seeing patients get better after working with them from the time of their diagnosis makes the lengthy commute worth it.

“It’s an amazing feeling to see a patient get better and continue to follow them in the five years post-diagnosis,” says Hettinger. “They come back and say, ‘You helped me so much to get through this really hard time in my life. You were like family to me.’ It makes me feel really good knowing my work matters.”

Using her strengths

Though Hettinger was admittedly a little nervous to transition from direct patient care to something less task-oriented, she’s thriving. Nurse navigation allows her to spend time truly getting to know the patients on a personal level, from details about their family to hobbies and what makes them happy. Plus, it helps that Hettinger naturally has the gift of gab.

“I could talk to them all day if I wanted to,” she says. “I’ll talk to anybody in a grocery store line, in the Target line, anywhere. It’s a blessing and a curse for my husband. But it always came naturally to me. I just have a genuine care for people. Growing up, I thought I was an introvert, but everybody’s like, ‘You’re not!’ I want to know everybody’s story.”

Hettinger’s care for others doesn’t stop at St. Mary. Faith is a big part of her life, with Hettinger volunteering for charitable causes and outreach through her church. She and her husband are also avid bikers (she rides a Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST) and regularly give back through the local biker community. The duo recently participated in the annual Pink Your Ride motorcycle event, benefiting the hospital’s breast center.

Final words

As we look back on Breast Cancer Awareness Month, held each October, Hettinger wants to stress the importance of annual screenings. According to the American Cancer Society, these should begin at age 40 for women of average risk and possibly sooner for those with a family history of cancer.

After helping many patients and their loved ones navigate a breast cancer diagnosis, Hettinger also has some words of advice for those who are newly diagnosed: “Attitude is everything. Keeping your head up and keeping your mind in the right space is always half the battle. You’ll get through it. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Visit our Breast Cancer page for more information and to make an appointment.