[supernova004]

The hospital I work at is rearranging it's layout and the oncology department next to us will be doubling. They are asking for volunteers from other departments to float to oncology for about six months until they are able to hire everyone they will need. I understand we would receive about three days of classroom training. I'm not sure what other training, but they did say we would not be chemo certified - that we'd have to pursue that on our own if we wanted to. I have two years experience as RN on a medicine floor. I'm thinking about volunteering for this to get new experience and learning. Anyone have some strong thoughts about pros and cons of oncology nursing in general?

[Beaches10]

It is a wonderful and rewarding career option, but you have to be the type of person who accepts that not everyone will be cured. As you see the same patients weekly, biweekly or monthly, you can become attached to them, know them, know their families, and know how cancer is affecting their lives. We hug and rejoice with them when the scans come back clear and they move on to live the rest of their lives. When it is time for them to die, you have to let them go knowing you provided the best compassionate care that you could. Do we cry? Yes. Do we obsess over death - no, it is simply a part of living. I don't personally go to a former patient's funeral as that is a drain on my own emotional well being. I have to believe that I made a difference in the quality of that patient's life and therein is the reward for being an Oncology Nurse.