duties of a radiation therapist? Pros and cons of becoming one?

[briannad]

Recently I decided that nursing isn't for me. I just graduated high school and will begin CC in august so I can transfer to a university. As I was planning out my dream to become a nurse, I realized I couldn't put up with certain things, such as catheters, handling urine and feces, and vomit. I have no problem touching body parts and dealing with other body secretions (blood, puss, etc.), its just those things specifically.

I was looking into becoming a radiation therapist. I've been watching videos and reading articles, but I cant really find anything besides RT's give patients radiation to kill cancer cells and tumors.

Can an RT or someone familiar with radiation therapy give me more insight on what it is like in this field? And besides seeing cancer patients, what are some cons?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Sine this is a nursing forum- I seriously doubt you will be getting any responses. Why don't you instead look up your local cancer center, and ask if you could interview a Radiation Therapist? Straight from the source answers.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Are you saying you consider seeing/working with cancer patients a con? If so, radiation therapist is not the right career path for you, consider some type diagnostic medical imaging career instead.

[briannad]

I did not mean that at all. I was referring to how some people in the medical field become emotional when they see patients with terminal illnesses. I apologize and should've been more specific when I typed that out.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Sine this is a nursing forum- I seriously doubt you will be getting any responses. Why don't you instead look up your local cancer center, and ask if you could interview a Radiation Therapist? Straight from the source answers.

This makes complete sense. Look for a forum that has actual RT's to respond to your questions.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

From what I know:

- working with cancer patients 90+%, many of them terminal

- limited scope of practice

- VERY limited knowledge, unless they did/do something else

- limited employment (as that's everything they can do)

- spotty employment (jobs are either in inpatient or outpatient centers big enough to have something they have to hire therapists for, as smaller jobs commonly done by radiology techs and trained RNs)

- limited advancement (dosimetrist... and pretty much that's it)

Those rad therapists I encounter mostly study for something else and do not see their jobs as something they intend to stay for longer than finding a greener pasture somewhere

[EllaBella1, BSN]

Yeah, I don't think there would be a whole lot of growth in a position like that. I would look into respiratory therapy if I were you. That's a position with a lot more stability, no catheters, minimal urine/feces, only occasional vomit. And respiratory therapists have a large knowledge base and play a significant and necessary role in acute care.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

Research the job market. I believe most of the $$$ in radiation also involves getting your medical dosimetry degree, so look into that as well.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

Yeah, I don't think there would be a whole lot of growth in a position like that. I would look into respiratory therapy if I were you. That's a position with a lot more stability, no catheters, minimal urine/feces, only occasional vomit.

Just don't forget about cleaning up some traches, especially infected and eroded ones. Also, about sticking needles into someone for ABGs, oropharyngeal suction of patients with advanced periodontitis and accidentally intubating someone who is still half here and fights the tube for dear life.

That's true that a good RRT knows a whole lot and worths his or her weight in gold. But about dealing with unstable people and getting hands dirty... well, there RNs and RRTs come close enough to each other. Respiratory care for a trached, vented patient with lung abscess rivalled my worst experience with wounds, and I saw a whole lot of the very bad of those.

[MilliePieRN]

If I had it to do over again (and considered choosing something other than nursing in the medical field), I would consider RCIS to work in a cardiac cath lab :)

[Julius Seizure]

I would consider something like physical therapy or speech therapy. You can still work in a hospital setting with patients.

[Kristenlaurenw]

It's good money, much lower stress than nursing. I did some shadowing in radiation therapy prior to nursing school. Most of the patients came in as outpatients and weren't your sickly terminal patients you'd see in the hospital. The therapists simply positioned the patients and administered treatment according to what was ordered and then moved onto the next patient. Everyone seemed very upbeat and friendly in the center I visited. I enjoyed my experience there. Maybe see if you can arrange a few shadowing shifts in a radiation therapy center. As far as the occupation itself, there are very few programs and even fewer job openings. And like some others have stated, limited lateral and upward mobility. You'll need to be prepared to interview a LOT and to move to find a job when you graduate.