My Nursing Experience: A Career As An Oncology Nurse

Working as an oncology nurse has been a life changing experience. I have grown not only as a nurse, but also as a person. My eyes have been opened to the value of life, and not just life itself, but the precious thing that is a healthy life. I cannot count the number of patients from the beginning of my nursing career until now that have told me, “Well, I just didn’t think my symptoms were a big deal” or “The doctor told me I needed additional tests but it didn’t seem important at the time and I didn’t have any money”. The lack of patient education and provider follow-up in situations such as these is disheartening to observe. Experiences I have had with patients combined with their life stories have fueled my desire to become a family nurse

It is my desire to increase my breadth of knowledge and to serve others in a larger capacity. Following graduation from the nurse practitioner program I would like to be working with a primary care clinic in a rural and underserved area. I have a heart for rural medicine and would love to serve and partner with a community that is in need of primary care providers. My goal would be to encourage patients to take ownership of their health by educating and informing them on healthy lifestyles, diseases, medications, etc. I would also like to help the community become more aware of preventative health. I believe the education of patients goes hand-in-hand with

Although I have significant experience in these areas there are others that I have not had the chance to grow in. I am aware that I need development in some critical care areas. Cardiac drips and ventilator settings are a few examples of things that I have general knowledge of, but do not see on a regular basis. Growing in knowledge and skills is a daily task for a nurse. Every day I learn something new and continue to grow in my leadership skills. This is an area that I believe I have the opportunity to continue to develop. Additionally, there are times when I could do a better job at delegating rather than trying to accomplish everything on my own. I am not afraid to ask for help when I need it, but there are times that I could be more efficient by requesting a task be completed by another