What makes oncology nursing special? Walking the road together.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the factors that influence oncology nurses' decisions to enter nursing and specialize in oncology and to describe the role dimensions of oncology nursing practice.


METHODS
Multi-institutional, descriptive, qualitative.


METHODS
Six sites in different regions of the United States; rural and urban cancer and noncancer centers.


METHODS
38 oncology nurses (mean age = 35 years; average time in nursing = 10 years and in oncology = 7 years; 47% bachelor's degree in nursing, 29% diploma, 13% associate degree in nursing, and 11% master's prepared).


METHODS
Phenomenological; content analysis of interviews.


METHODS
Life events, career decision-making, personal and professional rewards, role dimensions of practice, caring behaviors.


RESULTS
Nurses said that their decisions to specialize in oncology were based on family experiences with cancer, the challenges of administering sophisticated cancer therapies, and influential role models. They reported that professional rewards are derived from valuing each patients as a 'whole person' and providing family-centered care. Nurses find that personal rewards and career survivorship are embedded in several ongoing discoveries: work offers a unique laboratory for learning about life in general, distancing maneuvers are necessary for self-preservation, and the fuzzy boundary between work and personal life must be constantly renegotiated.


CONCLUSIONS
Oncology nurses find the best in the worst of situations, live fully the cancer experience by embracing their patients' heartaches and triumphs, share a collective sense of pride in their specialty, and report a high level of job satisfaction.


CONCLUSIONS
Caring for the dying person with cancer is the most difficult aspect of oncology nursing practice and being with--being present in the moment, no matter what the outcome--is the most rewarding and ubiquitous caring behavior of oncology nurses.
Haberman
M R
MR
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA.
Germino
B B
BB
Maliski
S
S
Stafford-Fox
V
V
Rice
K
K
D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D013315:Stress, Psychological