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I work on a peds floor where we give chemo on a regular basis. However, the parents of our chemo kids are always here; along with a whole room full of people. In the short time I have worked on my floor we have had several different chemo pts, and I"ve never seen one of them without their parents/family there.
You develop a close bond with this pts b/c you see them so much. And it makes you feel good when they request you to be thier nurse.
I enjoy of of my chemo pts and the families.
Hi!! I will be an RN in December (hopefully =), and although I have already signed on to a busy busy ER here, I am interested in pediatric oncology. I have been told that it's an extremely emotionally difficult floor, which is understandable... I have also been told that a few parents do not visit their children because it's too difficult to deal with? Have yall noticed this to be true? Please tell me your opinions, stories, etc... I want to get a better idea of what the oncology units are really like =) Thanks!!!
Of course this may be true in some cases...on any floor with chronically ill children, but from my experience it's the heme/onc kids whose parents are there whenever they can be!! You are correct in that it is a VERY emotional floor... you get plenty attached to your patients, and you also know they're facing a death sentence but they face it with a bravado and an understanding that makes Superman nothing more than a funny looking guy in tights. These kids are incredible. Be warned that it is a very difficult floor to work on, both from an emotional and intellectual standpoint. Understanding of disease process and the ability to truly "care" for your patients is a must.
Best of luck.
vamedic4
Off tonight (Yaay)
I´m working now for four years in ped onc and also have some experiences in working with adults.
In europe we have (so far) a different system, so we decide before the training if we go ped or adults.So normally only people who have a special ped training(3years) are accepted to any kind of ped ward
So first question should be children or adults?
What I can say is that
-of course it´s emotional, but to me it´s always like that if you work with
people who suffer from severe or chronic illnesses
- to me it´s NOT like sometimes shown in newspapers or movies
-the choice of the unit may also depend on your peronal
experiences so far, maybe - if you have children on your own- it´s harder for
you to see them sick, if you maybe lost somebody to a bad accident, ER
might me difficult etc...
I would recommend you to do a kind of internship if possible.
What is the average patient to nurse ratio?? I just recently applied at Children's in Dallas and they told me it was between 3-4... I was just wondering if thats about average for every other place??
Hey there! I have working in 5 different hospitals and all of them use a
accuity scale to determine the nurse patient ratio for the hemoc kids. Remember we keep these kids untill the really need the 1:1 of PICU. but I have had many kids for months that were 2:1 paitent nurse ratio. Good Luck In love the HEMOC position
Kinky Slinky RN
41 Posts
Hi!! I will be an RN in December (hopefully =), and although I have already signed on to a busy busy ER here, I am interested in pediatric oncology. I have been told that it's an extremely emotionally difficult floor, which is understandable... I have also been told that a few parents do not visit their children because it's too difficult to deal with? Have yall noticed this to be true? Please tell me your opinions, stories, etc... I want to get a better idea of what the oncology units are really like =) Thanks!!!