Caring for cancer patients can be hard, challenging and emotionally draining. It takes specialized knowledge and skills to be an oncology nurse, a role that has grown significantly since the National Cancer Act of 1971, which was adopted to reduce the incidents of cancer and cancer deaths.
Nurses now work across the continuum of care — from prevention through screening, diagnosis and treatment.
They take their work seriously. But when asked, as they often are by family, friends and total strangers, “Isn’t it depressing?” they usually say “No.” The word most oncology nurses use to describe their job is “fulfilling.”
We talked to three nurses who work in oncology to find out why they do it, how they deal with it and what they’ve learned in their jobs.
Charlyn Lathem
Lathem, RN, BSN, decided to become an oncology nurse when she was in her 40s and after her mother was diagnosed with a blood cancer. The former corporate marketer graduated from Brenau University’s weekend nursing program in 2007, and immediately went to work at Northside Hospital’s bone marrow transplant unit as part of a pilot program for new grads.
“Patients are very fragile in that unit as they wait for a new immune system to grow,” Lathem said. “Complications can develop and some patients need total care.”
Because she wanted to increase her clinical skills and treat patients who are well enough to go home at night after treatment, Lathem switched to the hospital’s outpatient infusion center in 2010.
Remembering how the oncology nurses could make her mother laugh and change her day for the better, Lathem is working toward always hitting the vein on the first try (a “one-stick wonder”) and being a nurse who knows her patients and meets their needs.
“To be an oncology nurse, you most of all need the desire for it” said Lathem, who is working to gain oncology nursing certification. “You can learn the clinical skills, but it will be hard to be successful if you don’t want to be there.
“The soft skills are so important. You have to use your assessment skills and drug knowledge to calculate a chemo dose correctly, but patients remember that you got them a cup of coffee, a warm blanket and that you talked to them.”
Lathem often connects with patients by telling them about her favorite therapy: her horses. She calls them her Vitamin H.
During her time as a cancer nurse, Lathem has learned to be a good listener. She also has learned about people.
“Being a cancer nurse has taught me that people are amazing and tough,” she said. “My mom was in hospice when I graduated, but I flew out to show her my nursing pin.
“She willed herself to be there to see that pin, to hug me and say, ‘Good job.’ I lost her in 2007, but she’s with me every day. I’ve never thought of doing any other type of nursing. I feel so fortunate to be able to do what I do.”
Paige Winzeler
Winzeler, RN, BSN, chose oncology because she thought cancer care would be interesting and challenging, and she considered herself strong enough to handle it.
A medical oncology staff nurse and clinical systems user at Northside Hospital, Winzeler cares for postsurgical patients, those receiving in-hospital chemotherapy or people with disease complications. Sometimes she works as a charge nurse or floats to the bone marrow transplant unit or the infusion center.
“You have to be positive. Many times, patients aren’t feeling well and you have to realize that they are having a bad day and be patient,” said Winzeler, a nurse since 2009.
Administering chemotherapy and controlling dehydration, vomiting and pain are constant parts of the job.
“Keeping a patient comfortable takes a lot of nursing time, and may require calling the doctor to change medications or the hospital’s pain service team for advice,” she said.
Winzeler enjoys her job, but says she has much to learn.
“Just being there for patients and talking with them is fulfilling, but sometimes I feel so new, so young and inexperienced,” said Winzeler, 24.
Knowing how to ease someone’s passage into death or calm the fears of families isn’t something you learn in nursing school.
“You learn it by experiencing it. People are scared and have so many questions, but they are so appreciative when you can start a morphine drip and make their loved one more comfortable,” she said. “And sometimes we cure patients. People forget about that.”
Winzeler is always energized when she sees former patients in remission.
Caring for cancer patients has helped Winzeler put life into perspective.
“I try not to complain about little things, to move through anger quicker and to be more forgiving,” she said. “Sometimes you see really sad things, but you know that you’re caring for patients. I like my job.”
Cyndi Mason
Mason, RN, fell in love with radiation oncology during a one-day clinical rotation when she was a nursing student.
“We had to write papers after all our clinical rotations. Normally, you wrote the bare minimum but after radiation oncology, I couldn’t stop writing,” said Mason, health systems clinical supervisor for radiation oncology at Northside Hospital.
Even Mason’s instructor noticed that the specialty had made an impression on her. “I had a real thirst to learn more about radiation,” she said.
Mason loves learning about the pathophysiology, radiobiology and the ever-changing technology, and being a critical part of a team that helps patients get better. Mason, who has worked in the field for 15 years, supervises the nurses in Northside’s four cancer centers, which are part of the National Cancer Institute’s Community Cancer Centers program.
Radiation oncology nurses are part of the daily lives of cancer patients for the two to seven weeks of treatment.
“We’re often the first person [that] cancer patients see. They’re scared of radiation and this million-dollar machine. You need compassion and a love for education to be able to help them understand this life-saving treatment,” Mason said.
As a member of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, Mason is committed to providing quality care through education, research and the advancement of the science.
“There’s a big difference in how we treat patients now, and the side effects are much less than before,” she said. “Some of our patients are enrolled in trials to provide new information that could improve outcomes. When you see patients not do well, it’s hard but we’re there to guide them through their journey and to give them hope.”
Mason said patients give her much more than she gives them.
“It’s so inspiring to see them pull strength from their faith in God, their families or from within themselves,” she said.
Mason’s patients have taught her that life is precious.
“I take my children and grandchildren to the beach at least once a month, and we create memories,” she said.
