When Gina Petersen, MSN, RN, simulation lab coordinator and visiting instructor of nursing at the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, was in college, she struggled with her decision to declare a major. Though she loved nursing, the talented writer and artist was concerned that it did not fully encapsulate her creative interests.
“Even though creativity is fundamental to nursing, my courses were not tapping into those areas that make me feel alive, more like myself,” she said.
Hoping to resolve the dilemma, Petersen met with a non-nursing faculty member about dual majoring in English and nursing but walked away feeling discouraged. Ultimately, she stuck with nursing and is glad she did, for she has since discovered new and rewarding ways to be creative within the profession she loves.
One way that she has found creative fulfillment is through the Good Listening Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting caregivers through deep listening and poetry. A certified listener poet since April 2024, Petersen co-creates poems with caregivers to promote their emotional well-being.
Through the project, Petersen holds one-on-one listening sessions with caregivers, providing space for them to share their stories. She listens openly without judgement and transforms each conversation into a custom poem that reflects the emotions and experiences of the caregiver.
“It is beautiful to see the languages of healthcare and poetry come together,” she said. “When they converge, we discover that these two seemingly unrelated spheres are not so different. At their best, both are about healing, comfort, and human connection.”
While Petersen alone commits the verse to paper, she gives equal credit to her co-creators, the caregivers whose stories provide the raw materials for shaping.
“The poem only exists because two people sat together at that moment in time,” she explained. “One comes to be heard and to express their feelings; the other, to shape those feelings into a unique piece of art.”
Though each experience culminates in a written product, Petersen recognizes that the poems, themselves, hold minimal therapeutic potential. Instead, healing resides within the process, within meaningful human interactions.
And therein lies the power of the Good Listening Project, according to Petersen: it provides opportunities to be present in the moment with other people.
Last November, Petersen took her talent to the DiMenna-Nyselius Library. During the annual Stags Share Stories event, she held one-on-one listening sessions with five students, for whom she co-created personalized poems over the next week.
Former swim team captain and communication graduate Alison Sposili ’25 met with Petersen during the event. Generally an open person, Sposili is not afraid to talk about her emotions; nevertheless, the deep listening experience compelled her to be more vulnerable than expected. “Gina was able to put my jumbled thoughts into sentences that made sense,” she said. “I wanted to tell her more because she understood what I was saying and feeling. I honestly cried during my session; I felt so seen and heard.”
As for the poem, Sposili cherishes it as a beautiful reflection of that time in her life. She especially appreciates that Petersen begins each stanza by echoing the opening words of a team-building activity then common among her teammates: “I love you because.”
“The purpose of the activity was to come together as a group of women, to appreciate each other in and out of the pool,” Sposili said. “That Gina incorporated that into the poem really meant a lot and was quite creative.”
This year, the library will host Stags Share Stories on November 12. Petersen plans to participate again.
An Ode to the Pool
