In his first year-and-a-half of nursing, Justin Pollard, BSN, RN, has been voted Rookie of the Year by his peers on the medical oncology floor of Emory University Hospital.
“I was shocked and really proud that my coworkers would choose me. They said such nice things like I was helpful, determined, and flexible, a great team-player, outgoing and positive,” said Pollard. “When I started at Emory, I remember just hoping that I wouldn’t give anyone the wrong medication or too much medication or have a patient die on me. I’ve learned a lot since then.”
Pollard learned about health care occupations at Henry Grady High School and took summer patient care technician and pharmacy technician programs at a technical college. “It taught me that I wanted to work with patients,” he said. Pollard enrolled at Clayton State University aiming for the nursing program.
“Applying to nursing school was so stressful and competitive, but I got in,” he said. Having professors who brought their real life experiences to class helped him prepare for the real world. But two trips to Guadalajara, Mexico brought life and career-defining moments, he said.
In 2011, he did a study abroad to work with various social agencies and improve his Spanish.
“After graduating in 2012, another student and I decided to go back for nurse internships at a hospital there,” he said. “There were six patients to a room and families sleeping on the floor. Practicing nursing in Mexico opened my eyes to different cultures and helped me learn to relate to people. It was a great confidence builder.”
Two weeks after passing his boards, he was offered a job in medical oncology at Emory University Hospital. “I didn’t ask for oncology, but I’m so glad to be in this specialty. Besides the oncology knowledge you get to use a lot of nursing skills because your patients have central lines, ports, infections and other complications, such as cardiac issues. We’re also cross-trained in solid-tumors, liquid-tumors and bone marrow transplant,” said Pollard.
His patients are in the hospital because they can’t manage their cancer or treatment symptoms at home, are taking chemotherapy, have developed an infection or are undergoing a bone marrow transplant. They may stay up to a month. Patients undergoing Interleukin-2 treatment for skin or kidney cancer are acutely ill and very challenging. They experience extreme symptoms of rapid weight-gain, and changes in heart rate and blood pressure. “I’m the type of person who likes to know what I’m getting into, so I spend a lot of time explaining and educating patients about their disease, treatment and how to take care of themselves.”
In his first year, Pollard came home every night mentally exhausted. “Every patient is different. You are responsible for three or four of them, and there are no text-book cases,” he said. “But then you learn to filter down to the important stuff.”
He’s figured out that despite being very sick his patients are still people who have lives outside of the hospital. “It took me a while to get that. This is a hard disease process and I was trying to be a good nurse, but what they also need is someone to talk with them, someone who can make them laugh, and take their mind off things.”
Now when he walks into a patient’s room he has two goals. “I want to find one thing in common with my patient so that I can start to build a relationship. It helps me to appreciate different countries, cultures and walks of life. I also want to figure out one thing I can do to make their day a little better. It might be something as simple as letting them choose when they want to shower or watching a YouTube video together.”
His advice to brand new nurses is to “follow your gut. If you have a question or feel uncertain about something, ask a question. Find an experienced nurse, a clinical nurse specialist, a doctor or a pharmacist to ask. Use all your resources,” he said. “Imagine yourself as the patient. You don’t want to hurt anyone, so ask. You’ll definitely learn something.”
