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What is it like being an Oncology nurse?

Do you enjoy being a Pediatric Oncology Nurse?

  • I'm in Grade 11 in High School, and have always considered nursing as a career. However, I have always felt this sort of "pull" towards working as a Pediatric Oncology Nurse, maybe at the Hospital for Sick Children (for anyone who doesn't know, that is a nurse who works with children who have cancer). I was hoping if anyone who is currently, or was, a pediatric oncology nurse to please let me know how they enjoyed their job working as a children's cancer nurse, and the ups and downs of it all! I already know the emotional toll this type of job can have on someones life, but I really feel called to work with these sick children and their families. Any help or advice would be great, I just really want to hear from a peds. onc. nurse firsthand :)

  • Answer:

    I am not a pediatric oncology nurse, but I do work in pediatric oncology with some wonderful nurses who love their job. There are certainly ups and downs, and it does take an emotional toll, but pediatric oncology can be a happy place to be, too. While our patients are getting chemo, they are playing the Wii or singing along to Yo Gabba Gabba on TV or cooking in the play kitchen or painting the clinic windows. We celebrate the little things (a lost tooth, potty training) and the big things (off treatment!) There are days, of course, when our patients aren't feeling well, are crabby, don't want to be there, aren't into cooperating. It happens. The nurses just keep going. There are days when we have more tears because of tantrums than because of pain or not feeling well. There are sad times. Not every child gets better. MOST children with cancer get better. It's really hard when you know a child is not going to get better. The nurses become very cose with the families, and when a child dies, it's horrific. We have constant reminders of WHY we do this, though, when a child does get better, or a child gives a random hug, or a parent says how much easier the nurse/doctor/whoever has made the process. Our nurses have all been with our clinic for many years, and really love their job. It's certainly not for everyone; there are many challenges, but aso many rewards.

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I'm not really the adequate person to be answering your question, because I am not a Pediatric Oncology Nurse. But I am a clinical student, and I have been on the floor of the oncology, mostly dealing with adult patients, so I can tell you a little about that, and how my experience was. It does has its ups and downs. When I was on the oncology floor, I enjoyed it. It takes a really strong personality to be on there. I actually met patients that had a DNR order, which means that incase they are having a complication, nobody can help them. For example if they're in cardiac arrest, they have specific orders to not perform CPR. Although there's the sad part of that, you see people that have cancer, but some are still smiling. I'd think that you have to keep yourself positive, because some patients will see just negativity in their situation, but you have to be their second hand, and support them emotionally. If they see you down because of them, that's no good for them. If that made any sense at all. I'm in the running towards becoming a doctor, and although I enjoyed oncology, it's not for me. Not because it's really emotional, with both having a bond with the patient and yourself, it's just not of my interest. I like oncology, but I feel that my call is somewhere else, like emergency medicine. There's different types of personalities, that can handle each department in the hospital, and you'll figure that out once you go into nursing. You may change your mind though, and that's okay, because there's hundreds of different departments in the hospital to work as a nurse, so you can specialize in a lot of different things. But being a pediatric oncology nurse is I think an excellent choice. Not a lot of people go into this mainly because when you hear the word oncology, you think of the disease cancer. I hope this helps, and I'm sorry for not being a specific type of person to be answering your question, but I wish you the best of luck in everything. I can see you have a bunch of motivation to be a pediatric oncology nurse, and you'll be a great one! Just stick to passion, and work hard for it! Cheers.

EM MD

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