What is it like to be an Oncology nurse?

[EmBSNStudent]

Hey all!

I'm currently a rising senior nursing student and recently I've been interested in possible going into Oncology nursing. At the moment I know very little and I am wondering if any Onc nurses out there can tell me about their experiences?

[midazoslam]

Hi all,

Thank you to all for your detailed responses. I have just bit the bullet and applied for an oncology position at my local hospital. After working in mental health for the past three years, I need to move on to get more experience so I can eventually get into a program for nurse practitioner (palliative care). I am currently enrolled in a great short course for palliative care, and am doing as much self-directed learning as possible. There's also a chemo module 1 & 2 in the major cancer hospital where I live, in November that I will be attending.

I have to say I am nervous as buggery putting in the application. I really, really want this and I know I am a good clinician. Please wish me luck :)

Once again, thanks for the insight into the day to day runnings of the onc units. It sounds so fascinating and frightening all at once!

Oh, and do you recommend any particular resources/books that would be beneficial?

Cheers,

Midazoslam.

[dianearc, BSN, RN]

Amazing. Wonderful. Fun. Challenging. Scary. Terrifying. Sad. Rewarding.

I was an Oncology nurse for 10ish years, now a school nurse, and I miss it constantly. I'll get back to it one day, when my kids are finished with high school. For now, I cherish the summers off. But I highly encourage you to give it a try if you even think you might like it. They were my best nursing days yet this far.

Hi í ½í¸Š I also have an interest in oncology but have qstns lol. So are there any concerns regarding side effects to nurses working in oncology? Pregnancy/infertility concerns while working in oncology? Advice? & what are the patient-nurse ratios? Would you say it's sort of similar to med-surg?

[dianearc, BSN, RN]

I haven't worked inpatient for many years and it will depend on the hospital you work for. We had an IV therapy team who transported chemo from the pharmacy to the floor and they double checked it with the floor RN. A lot of inpatient chemo patients will get chemo that infuses over 24-48 hours for example, so you may be the one hanging it or the nurse monitoring it. Also, some patients will get rescue drugs ( chemo protectant drugs) at specific intervals. You are monitoring blood counts more frequently and infusing blood, antibiotics, antiemetics etc. You assess your patients and do your regular nursing care just like med/surg. You do patient teaching for new chemo patients and symptom management for post care. It would be hard to describe a typical day- is there such a thing as a typical day in nursing? Lol

Good luck to you with whatever you choose í ½í¸Š

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses

Hi, So I also have an interest in oncology but have qstns. Are there any concerns regarding side effects to nurses working in oncology? Pregnancy/infertility concerns while working in oncology? Advice? & what are the patient-nurse ratios? Would you say it's sort of similar to med-surg?