As the Filipino stereotype holds up, I am currently a nursing major about to graduate with my Bachelor of Science. I have been surrounded by nurses my entire life – many of my family members are nurses and have been such a huge influence on my decision to pursue a career as a nurse myself.
When choosing a career like nursing, there is a lot of thought that goes into what kind of field you would like to pursue. A lot of popular ones include pediatrics, emergency, critical care, and psychiatry; I'm sure you (my wonderful readers) have heard of at least some of these. However, I want you to take a second and reflect on what you think of when you hear the term "oncology nursing."
I bet it's not super positive, which is totally understandable. A diagnosis of cancer is not an easy thing to process nor is it the type of experience you can dictate to others like, "Hey, this is what I went through, so you're going to go through the same exact thing." Therefore, it's not a field that many nurses willingly go into, with so much uncertainty and variety.
I've known I wanted to go into oncology nursing for nearly as long as I've known I wanted to become a nurse although, every time I shared this fact about me, many people would shoot down the idea. All I'd hear was things like, "Why? Oncology is so sad," "You're going to burn out so quickly," and "There are so many more interesting things to do with nursing." If anything, these comments made me more determined and passionate about pursuing oncology nursing.
When I was a freshman, I took an Intro to Nursing class, and one of our assignments was to interview a registered nurse. I chose to interview my uncle whom I see as a best friend and mentor. The story about his journey to become a nurse was so inspiring to me, but what really spoke to me was his time spent as an oncology nurse. He described it as one of the most challenging but fulfilling experiences of his life, which is all I've ever wanted out of becoming a nurse. With each passing day, I want to become a better version of myself, and oncology nursing is such an amazing field to grow in, as both a nurse and a human being.
There aren't enough nurses that want to pursue oncology, which saddens me because I am a very firm believer that oncology patients deserve the same amount of care, compassion, and respect from healthcare professionals as any other patient or person, if not more. A diagnosis should not change the way you view someone – at the end of the day, we are all people, just fighting different battles.
I have always viewed nurses as an extremely vital part of providing healthcare, and my aunts, uncles, and cousins have all immensely inspired me to become a nurse as caring and empathic as them all. I believe that this inspiration will only help me in giving all that I can as an oncology nurse.
