Things you wish you knew/did before starting Oncology nursing

Emilynn09 · May 20, 2012

Well. I'm new so I can tell you a few things that are fresh in my mind. I wish I had been warned about the family members, some of them can be darned right difficult to deal with. Even more so than the patients. However, they come from a good place and want the best for their loved ones, and especially a loved one with cancer, they are super stressed. Sometimes you end up spending more time dealing with emotional issues with the family than you do the patient. Second, I wish someone would have really warned me about nurse bullies. Sometimes nurses can be darned right mean- and for no good reason. Just be confident, and demand respect. Never stoop to their level. You are a professional now, not a student anymore so don't take any crap that you don't deserve. Third... I would like to say "What CNA?". Maybe you will get lucky and your hospital will be well staffed, but if you are finding yourself doing A LOT of duties that you were taught in school to be CNA duties, don't be surprised. I think in school they overemphasized the whole delegation thing. There's A LOT more that we do as RNs, that, at least I was taught to delegate to CNAs.

That's about all I can think of right now. As a new grad, volunteer to do everything. If you are weak at IVs for example, tell your fellow nurses you want to practice and ask them to come get you whenever they need an IV placed. Then you will get plenty of practice. A lot of CA patients are hard sticks too, so you'll want to get pretty good at that skill. :)

best of luck!

Guest586237 · May 21, 2012

Great advice! Thank you so much for sharing!