Starting in Pediatric Oncology

[yellow.poppy, ASN]

Hi everyone! I just graduated from nursing school last week, I've always wanted to work with peds, as my end goal is to be a pediatric NP. I got super lucky and was able to get an offer on a pediatric hematology/oncology unit at a nationally ranked children's hospital. It seems too good to pass up... but I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience specific to peds oncology or just oncology in general. Do you think its a good place to start? I know the emotional aspect is going to be very hard, but what about the actual work and the chemo drugs? That's what I'm most nervous about, because I have VERY minimal experience with peds in general, but I have no experience with chemo drugs. Would I be correct to assume that theres a lot of math involved in pediatric meds, but especially chemo?

Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated!

[JHURN]

I would absolutely go for it if you are interested in this specialty! You will learn everything you possibly need to know on the job. As far as math it’s not bad. Once you learn how to do BSA it’s really just dosage calc. 
 

I wanted to do peds oncology but the hospital I worked at just had a general acute/intermediate peds floor. I gave a ton of chemo over the 14 years I worked there though. They are hands down my favorite patients. And as a peds leukemia survivor myself, I can attest that the nurses make ALL the difference in a kids experience. 
 

good luck and go for it!