What is your job like as a nurse?

What's this job called? "Chemo nurse?"

• I want to go to college when I am older (8th grade now) and I want a job paying $70,000 a year or more. I know what I want to do, but not what it is called. I want to work with cancer patients, mainly kids? Not really a surgeon to remove the cancer, but more like the chemo nurse? I ONLY want to work with children cancer patients, not adults, or just any patient in the hospital. I was thinking maybe St. Jude. I want the job to access/decess chest ports, etc. What's it called? How much does that job pay? How long would I have to go to college for it? Thanks! :]

• Answer:

  the specialty of nursing that deals with the patient aged infant to 18 years of age is called pediatrics. the specialty of nursing that deals with the patient diagnosed with cancer and deals with chemotherapy is oncology. To become a registered nurse (RN), the bare minimum is a 2-year associates degree (ADN), followed by passing the national nursing examination to obtain your license. There is also a 4-year bachelor's degree (BSN), followed again by that exam to get your RN license... essentially it is the same license, just more schooling. Unless you get into management, the BSN doesn't pay any different than the ADN unless the job you work for gives credit for more schooling. Your $70,000/year salary for an RN is not really accurate... I am sure you can get up to that much in time or utilizing travel nursing opportunities, but during your first five years of experience as a nurse, no matter the specialty, you can expect depending on your location to start making $40,000 to $50,000. If you are talking about an Advanced Nurse Practicioner (ANP), that at the moment requires a Masters Degree (three more years of graduate college after the above mentioned BSN degree). However, by the time you get there, to bcome a ANP will require a full Doctorate (PHD) in nursing degree which means more school after the Masters degree. An ANP does make good money... $70,000/year and up to $100,000/year, depending on location... the more remote place you work, the more money per year you make. However, the ANP wouldn't be at the patient bedside doing patient care and infusing chemotherapy. They are considered a midlevel practitioner and would be seeing their own patient's in a clinic type setting. It sounds like you want to be at the bedside deep in patient care which is great... it takes a certain type of person to be a nurse, and within nursing, it takes a certain type of nurse to be able to work with children in the oncology field. Not everyone can do it... so I applaud your ambition and caring heart. Here is what I suggest... go to college first to get your two year associates nursing degree... pass your nursing boards to get your registered nurse license... then find an internship in the pediatric oncology field. Right away you are making money as a new nurse and getting specialized training in your chosen field. Then I suggest that you keep going to school on the side while working as a nurse to get your Bachelors in Nursing (BSN) degree. By the time you get that BSN degree, you'll not only have 2-3 years of experience in your chosen specialty, but you'll be making more pay/salary by that time too. Also, you'll want to keep in mind that many hospitals have an education reimbursement program... so that means that they can help pay for your remaining years/classes to obtain your BSN. Likewise, you can continue going to school after your BSN while your working to go and obtain your Nurse Practitioner. Things you can be doing now is make sure you get good grades in high school... the higher your grade point average (GPA) the better your chances are in getting accepted into nursing school. You'll want to focus on science and math classes. Volunteering at a hospital and nursing home also looks good on your applications and gives you more experience. If you know what colleges/universities you'll be attempting to attend, I recommend calling up the nursing department and talking with one of their staff on what you should really focus on. Nursing is a great career... there is currently a shortage of nurses throughout the united states. By the time you get your degree and license it will only be worse which means that hopefully the salary range will be even better than it is right now. You'll never have to worry about getting a job, and until we find a cure for cancer, there will always be children with cancer needing you. Good luck to you in your endeavors and I am proud of you for recognizing at your young age that now is the time to prepare for college/university! What you do in high school has EVERYTHING to do with what college/university you'll be accepted into. Remember also that if you excell in high school, you'll be eligible for countless scholarships.