Oncology is one area of medicine and health care that has taken great prominence in health debates in recent years. While, in its strictest sense, the definition of the word oncology is the research about and treatment of tumors, the modern practice stretches far beyond that.
One of these numerous tendrils is oncology nursing. This is a branch of nursing that involves direct care and rehabilitation of cancer patients. Nurses along this line come face to face with one of the most devastating maladies known to man, a disease that consumes patients both psychologically and physically- fast! It breaks down the patient, their family, and pretty much anyone who comes into close contact with them.
In these circumstances, it is the work of an oncology nurse to give firm hope to this entire lot. It doesn’t matter if the nurse himself or herself is heartbroken; they have to fetch from their deepest wells of resolve. As such, an oncology nurse ends up with a needy lot that is more than just the patient and extends far beyond the treatment and recovery rooms. This is absolutely different from what the profession entailed in Eras gone past and maybe in the future ones.
Such requirements cannot be fulfilled by just a need to have a job. They require passion that borders on or extends beyond a calling. A strong and resilient yet compassionate character is a necessity for one to get through each day in the field of oncology.
Even with the above-mentioned attributes, however, it is very important that oncology nurses attend seminars regularly. They don’t necessarily have to be forums where the newest research findings are shared. The most important meetings are those where nurses from different branches of the same discipline come together and share their different experiences.
It is in these forums that nurses can finally get to pour out that which they hold in whenever they have to be the strong pillar within a patient’s circle. In the presence of people who go through near-similar experiences each day, it is possible to pour out even the deepest fears and get valuable advice.
Seminars give a nurse a chance to rack up valuable lessons that may not be found in class and whose application is of importance in their operations beyond the ward. They may learn, for example, how to deal with overly emotional relatives of a sick patient who show up at their workplaces or even call crying in the middle of the night.
Over and above that, oncology nurses need these forums to learn how to take care of themselves, so they don’t burn out trying to be strong when everyone else is deflated.
