waiting patiently

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Specializes in internal medicine and ENT.

Hello All-

I'm a 42 year old nursing student. I recently beat breast cancer and lost my best friend to throat cancer. I'm getting ready to FINALLY finish my last year in nursing school, and my oncology doctor has offered me a job!!! I have known for a couple years this is the field I want to go into. My problem is how do I focus on the "basics" when I know where I'm going? I want to do really well this year but the anticipation is killing me!! Any ideas on how to re-focus and get through this?!

Thanks!!!:D

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I'm not sure what you mean by the basics? In the last year of my program we were still doing a lot of pathophysiology, and I can say that my oncology patients have all kinds of problems besides cancer. Pneumonia, arthritis, heart problems, diabetes, recent surgery, crohn's, dementia, delirium, infections, on and on. I say, stuff your brain as full as you can, you'll need it all and then some.

Hope that helps!

And congratulations on your recovery!

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Cancer is rarely the only medical problem in the pts I see. So all that other stuff they throw at you is very useful! Plus chemo can do some very nasty things to a variety of organ systems so knowing the signs of heart failure, DIC, kidney failure, septic shock in immunocomprised pts, etc... are all very important too.

Congrats on being a survivor!!! Good luck in your last year

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