High turnover in Oncology?

Hi,

I was wondering if some of you might give me some input. I have just applied to a PRN position on an Oncology Unit, however, I really need a full-time job (there are no openings now, since new grads just got hired, but they do occur on a regular basis). I was just wondering, is it normal for onc units to have a high nurse turnover? If so, what are the reasons?

The reason I'm asking, I'm not worried about the pts or the work because I started on this very same unit as a new grad in 1998. I didn't leave because I wanted to, but the manager at the time was a monster (sorry, no other term sums it up so well, but dictator, bigot and some others fit as well). Yes, I was a new grad, inadequately oriented (3 orientees to one usually absent "preceptor") and overwhelmed by the workload, therefore incurring lots of OT to complete charting; but I was never really given a chance, the manager just forced to me to resign after my "orientation" period without any good explanation. Anyway, I just wanted to say it was never the work itself that I found too hard to take. In fact, I still remember some of my onc pts from way back then; they were very special and I felt like I could really make a difference with them (my difficulties were mostly with tasks, such as programming our complicated PCA pump quickly, and not with the pts).

Anyway, this horrible manager was gone about 2 years after I left, "early retirement" (yeah, right. She hadn't planend to retired for several years.) The new one couldn't be any more different - for instance, the old manager was a bigot (I kid you not - she referred to her 4 black nurses as the "quadruplets" in my presence), the new one is black. I met her during an inservice in the acute dialysis unit in the same hospital where I worked until about a year ago and was very impressed. I thought I would stay in dialysis, but it didn't work out (I never got any PRN hours and finally quit). Now I would really like to give my "first love", oncology, another try.

My only nagging question, which I really don't want to ask in an interview, is why onc has such a high turnover. Of course, they do hire new grads who often leave after their year of med/surg is up. However, could there be another reason? Is it just part of the job, which I'm sure can be very stressful, or might the new manager be horrible too? (I'm just a bit paranoid, aren't I?)

Thanks for any input you can give me, and I hope to be able to join you in this specialty soon.

DeLana