Nursing Student Hanna Johnson ’25 Goes Full Circle with Boston Children’s Fellowship
The Flynn Foundation’s Oncology Nursing Fellowship just meant that much more to Hanna Johnson ’25.
As one of just three nursing students chosen for the competitive fellowship, Johnson was ecstatic to get the news: “it was a surreal feeling, I was on the phone with my mom and I just started screaming!”
Hanna Johnson ’25 pictured in Emmanuel’s Wilkens School of Nursing & Clinical Sciences sim lab. Johnson, an aspiring pediatric nurse, spent this past summer working the oncology floors of Boston Children’s Hospital as a clinical assistant – on the same floors where she received treatment for two years in her battle with Leukemia.
Hanna Johnson ’25 pictured in Emmanuel’s Wilkens School of Nursing & Clinical Sciences sim lab.
Johnson was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 16. Now five years in remission, she is in her senior year of pursuing her nursing degree at Emmanuel College, in addition to serving as a class representative for her nursing class and as a member of the Dance Team. With the aim of providing the same care that she once received, she hopes to return to Boston Children’s as a nurse and specialize in pediatric oncology.
Working on those floors was a full-circle experience, Johnson said, which meant so much to her to be able to provide care to Boston Children’s patients and support their families.
“I got to show people that hope is still forever here. Now I can help – [and] do everything in my power to make the bad days good days.”
Despite the initial nerves, Johnson built upon her foundational nursing skills over the eight-week fellowship. She said she drew from her personal experiences as a patient, when her nurses would let her “play nurse” on herself, and cherished a moment assisting a patient alongside a nurse who had provided the same care for Johnson several years ago.
Johnson ’25 works on a patient in the simulation lab alongside Assistant Professor of Nursing, Julie Briere, MSN.
She came across the opportunity through Emmanuel, and was encouraged by nursing faculty to pursue it. The fellowship, started by the Flynn Foundation’s founder Fred Flynn, was inspired by Flynn’s wife Susan, who passed away after her fight with ovarian cancer in 2013. Inspired by the care she received, Flynn created the foundation and fellowship to help support the training and development of skilled oncology nurses.
Over eight weeks, Johnson received that valuable training at Boston Children’s, working on multiple floors on a variety of oncology disciplines, and has the next steps in her professional development already planned after receiving an invite to attend the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Congress in Denver in April 2025.
Following her goals at Emmanuel College
For Johnson, Emmanuel was the perfect fit for pursuing her nursing goals. Not only was the College familiar to her family – her grandmother is an alumna as well – she benefitted greatly from the College’s proximity and connections to excellent hospitals, as well as strong mentorship from faculty in the field.
“My mom knew I would succeed if I was placed here – it just felt right,” Johnson said.
In fact, the foundation of skills and courses from Johnson’s first couple years at Emmanuel put her in a great position to secure the Flynn Fellowship. To qualify for the fellowship, applicants have to take an End of Life certification course, but through her studies at Emmanuel, which includes an End of Life course, Johnson had already been certified – and was ahead of the game when applying for the fellowship.
Getting to know and building a relationship with Johnson “has been life changing,” said Assistant Professor of Nursing Julie Briere, MSN.
From the first seminar, she and her fellow students knew they wanted to learn more from Briere. “She really cares,” Johnson said.
Briere, who has 25 years of nursing experience, works as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner at both Boston Children’s and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in addition to her teaching role. At the start of the semester, Johnson and Briere returned to seeing each other on campus and in the classroom rather than around the hospital – but theirs is a friendship they both hope to continue as colleagues.
Having Johnson in the nursing program has brought great elements to the classroom, Briere said, from her openness to share and draw from her own experiences as a patient.
She also encouraged Johnson to pursue the Flynn Fellowship, noting that it was the “perfect fit,” since Johnson is “an incredible advocate for oncology patients.”
This article was originally published on Emmanuel.edu on October 8, 2024.
