Why I Chose to be an Oncology Nurse

Carolyn Vachani, RN, MSN, AOCN, is a nurse educator for OncoLink®, an award-winning cancer information website sponsored by Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. She is an oncology advanced practice nurse and has worked in the areas of medical hematology and oncology, bone marrow transplant, clinical research, radiation therapy and staff development.

In this blog post, she discusses her choice to become an oncology nurse.

From her blog:

Talk to an oncology nurse and they will tell you the rewards of this specialty; the fact that you never leave work thinking did I really make a difference in someone’s life today? You don’t have to ask, you did. They might tell you about the honor you feel holding a dying person’s hand, the way you live your life differently because of the people you’ve met in this profession or the joy you share in when a person finishes treatment. But it’s not for everyone. I started my career on the oncology unit with 13 newly minted nurses and more than half have moved on to other specialty areas. But if it is a right fit for you, you will know.

Read more of Carolyn's blog post at Oncolink.