Nurse Georgie Name Wellness Advocate of The Year By Nurse.org
Through a nurse wellness app and personalized health coaching for nurses, Nurse Georgie is on a mission to create happier, healthier nurses—and transform healthcare from the inside out.
Georgina “Nurse Georgie” Villarreal (@nurse.georgie), MSN, RN, of California, knows all too well how nurses can find self-care nearly impossible. Between back-to-back 12-hour shifts, staying awake while the rest of the world sleeps, and juggling stress with constant patient and administration demands, a nursing career doesn’t leave much time for self-care.
But Nurse Georgie wants to change that. As the founder of Healthcare Strong, an employee health tech startup, Nurse Georgie won the 2025 Nurse Wellness Advocate of the Year in Nurse.org’s Best of Nursing Awards. A woman and a nurse who has overcome challenges in her own life—and witnessed firsthand the difference self-care can make—Nurse Georgie is unapologetic about fighting to empower nurses with the tools they need to live healthier, happier lives.
“My goal is to bring comprehensive wellness resources to healthcare facilities nationwide,” she says. “When nurses are healthier, happier, and more supported, they stay in their roles and offer higher-quality care, which benefits patients and colleagues. It’s a ripple effect: investing in nurses helps the entire healthcare system operate at its best.”
As a business owner, nurse, entrepreneur, advocate, and coach, Georgie walks the walk when it comes to health and wellness. Her day starts at 5 AM with a workout, breathwork, and supplements, before diving into her work, which includes developer calls, content creation, planning wellness events, and testing new app features.
“It’s a full plate, but it aligns perfectly with my passion for helping nurses thrive,” notes Georgie.
Georgie’s background as an athlete and travel nurse also propels her towards her mission. “Growing up, I was a competitive soccer player and track runner, which taught me discipline and resilience—qualities that have fueled my career and passion ever since,” she explains.
After attending San Francisco State University to earn her BSN, Georgie spent a year studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, where she says she fell in love with traveling. During her master’s program in nursing in Chicago, she received a Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Award for her commitment to increasing representation on campus. After graduating with her MSN, Georgie spent five “fantastic years” as a travel nurse, which she tells Nurse.org allowed her to invest in her health coaching business and connect with healthcare teams nationwide.
Her journey hasn’t been one without challenges, but it’s in the challenges that Georgie finds the opportunity to grow and change—something she sees as key for nurses looking to embrace healthier lives.
“Some of my biggest hurdles include not passing my last nursing class on time, failing the NCLEX on my first attempt, and missing out on my ‘dream hospital’ job,” she shares. “Each setback taught me resilience. My mantra is: ‘Everything is figure-out-able.’ If something doesn’t work out the first time, I adapt and keep going. That spirit has served me well in both my nursing and entrepreneurial journeys.”
Georgie’s healthcare tech startup, Healthcare Strong, is an employee app that healthcare facilities can offer to their employees as part of their incentive package. The app, which is developed by healthcare professionals, puts vital health and wellness resources, like tailored nutrition plans, exercise routines, and mindfulness tools, in the hands of the healthcare workers who need them the most.
The app is designed not only to improve and empower individual nurses’ health and well-being but also to strengthen the healthcare system as a whole and improve patient care as a result. Healthcare Strong promotes the idea that healthier nurses lead to happier, stronger teams and cost savings on things like employee health, retention, and burnout-related expenses.
“I truly believe that healthy nurses create healthier hospitals,” says Georgie.
Georgie points out that it’s all too easy for nurses to neglect their own well-being as they work long hours under the intense conditions of the front lines of care, completely focused on their patients.
“But if nurses aren’t healthy—physically, mentally, and emotionally—patient care suffers, too,” she stresses.” Proactive wellness support isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. When nurses feel strong, they’re more engaged, they stay in the profession longer, and ultimately provide better care.”
While the app is in its beta testing round, with “overwhelmingly positive” results, Georgie is also focused on helping nurses through her 1:1 health and wellness coaching, with programs that offer personalized fitness and nutrition coaching, exercise plans, live coaching and check-ins, and a free online support community.
After working hard to develop her businesses, Georgie says being named Nurse Wellness Advocate of the Year is a “dream come true.”
“I’ve personally coached over 300 nurses, and I’ve poured my savings into developing health tech solutions that I believe will revolutionize nurse wellness,” she adds. “Having Nurse.org and my peers validate these efforts means everything—and motivates me to keep pushing forward.”
As she continues to bring Healthcare Strong to healthcare facilities around the country and empower nurses through online coaching, Nurse Georgie also practices what she preaches.
“It means living the principles I teach,” she explains. “I’ve always been active, but as a full-time nurse, I personally experienced how easy it is to lose sight of your own health. Being a wellness advocate means leading by example—showing nurses that it is possible to balance fitness, nutrition, and mental health amid long shifts and rotating schedules.”
She’s also staying motivated by the stories of the nurses she has helped along the way.
“Watching nurses transform their own health is extremely rewarding,” she says. “Hearing someone say they lost weight, gained confidence, or found a better work-life balance because of our coaching or platform makes me feel like all the effort is worth it.”
In the end, Nurse Georgie believes in the power of both individual changes and collective action. While the nursing culture has long been one of martyrdom and selflessness over self-care, Nurse Georgie sees power in empowering nurses to make self-care the foundation of patient care.
“I want to see a real shift in nurse culture—one where prioritizing our own health becomes the norm, not the exception,” she tells Nurse.org. “It’s incredible when a nurse tells me I’ve helped them change their life. By leveraging technology, I can extend this impact beyond one-on-one coaching to countless nurses. My dream is to see nurse wellness embedded into the fabric of healthcare, resulting in better outcomes for staff and patients alike.”
To join the nurse wellness revolution, Nurse Georgie has a few options for nurses to get involved. You can:
“Don’t wait for the ‘right moment’ to invest in yourself—because there’s always going to be another shift, another birthday, another holiday that can pull you off track,” Georgie stresses. “Make the decision to prioritize your well-being now. Once you do, everything else—career goals, personal relationships, daily energy—falls into place more easily. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen for myself and so many others,” adding:
“Together, we can build a stronger, more resilient nursing community—one that’s ready to transform healthcare from the inside out.”
🤔Nurses, how do you integrate nutrition, fitness, and wellness into your personal life? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
