bone marrow transplant unit?

[sophie<3]

I am a new grad and was interviewed yesterday for a new graduate oncology position in a university hospital where i live. the position trained you on medical oncology, surgical oncology, and bmt and at the end of orientation you had up to a year to take a permanant position on one of these floors. the interview went great...i thought for sure i was getting the job but was called today by the nursing manager to tell me she was going to pursue other candidates BUT that she wanted me to work at the cancer center ("i don't want to lose you!" was her exact words) and she highly recommended me to the nurse manager of the bone marrow transplant unit for a full time position. of course i want the job but i'm not sure what i am getting myself into. i'm supposed to be interviewing next week and was hoping someone could paint a picture for me of a bmt unit..is it similar to ICU? are there many oppurunities for skills? i have ICU experience in nursing school and as a tech and have a passion for critical care...i thought maybe bmt was a good mix of critical care & oncology...two things i really love :) what age groups normally come to bmt? what is a normal nurse to patient ratio..i was told 3:1 on this unit..sound about right? thanks in advance!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

it'll be baptism by fire-- bmt can be rough-- but if she really wants you as a new grad she'll cut you some slack while you catch up. i started in a critical care area as a new grad but i did love it and i was a fast learner. go for it. you sound like you'll do well.

[schoolnurse1001]

My dad had a stem cell transplant at Vanderbilt and was on the BMT unit several times for complications from Graft vs Host disease. It was listed as ICU on the hospital billing. Those were some of the most caring nurses I have ever seen. I say you would use a lot of your ICU skills and knowledge. The transplant patients can get very sick after the transplant and on isolation so the nurses become like family to the patients. I think you need a great deal of compassion to work on this floor but I tgink it would be a very rewarding career choice.

[sophie<3]

thank you for your kind comments. i think i have what it takes to work in BMT..the reason i love critical care/ICU so much is that you get to know your patients and get to know their families and develop a bond, a relationship. in nursing school i didn't care for the med/surg type floors because you were so busy passing meds on your 5-6 patients, charting, and admitting/discharging that you rarely got to know the person. if i interview well & am offered a position i am going to take it. i have a good feeling about it :)