For the last 14 years I have been a Hem/Onc/BMT RN. Some pivotal transitions include jumping from inpatient to outpatient, becoming a clinical educator, going back to school for my Master's, and then starting my career in leadership. Everyone encouraging me to step into nursing always told me how versatile it is, but I never knew the extend until becoming a nurse. No matter your interest, there is a unique and exciting path for the nurse who is wanting to learn, grow, and help people. From working with specific disease teams, different work settings, even different types of work and roles, you can dive into the life of a nurse and have a rewarding career. What is also exciting is that if you are looking to make a change, you can! I thought I would always work within the pediatric realm of Hem/Onc/BMT, but I now work in the adult oncology world and help manage an amazing outpatient team deliver extraordinary ambulatory care to patients. Who knows, maybe one day I will move away from the Hem/Onc/BMT life.......but probably not ;)

Hollings Cancer Center is an NCI designated center under the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). It is a university hospital that is magnet recognized and dedicated to focusing on education, quality and safety of care. Our busy adult oncology clinic has several different disease teams simultaneously working in an ambulatory setting Monday-Friday. On any given day we have anywhere from 150-250 patients come through our clinics. Our robust team consists of providers (MDs, APPs, PharmD), nurses (RN & LPN), certified medical assistants (CMAs), administrative assistance, phlebotomists, and more. Working as a team is key in having patients receive high, effective, quality and safe care during their visit, though sometimes with that many patients and limited amount of space, time continues to be a challenge for us. However, with a high functioning, strong work ethic team, our clinical team continues to make it happen with the majority of the time with a smile on their faces. I remain extremely proud of the work that continues to take place, but I am dedicated as the manager to make improvements with flow, clinical support, and improving the way we deliver care. I have been in this role nearing on a year and am excited to remain a pillar on this team in the long hall to make lasting changes and improving staff satisfaction.

To be a good manager, I recognize I am only as strong as the team I lead. It is my job to find the best person for the role, and then trust them in that role. Not to micromanage, not to hover or control everything, but to guide, support, and act as a mirror for my team members to see themselves in their role to make improvements. While there are things that I do not love to do on the regular (i.e. run reports, complete paperwork, or attend a countless amount of meetings), it is still important for me to hold my team members accountable to both their work and their behavior. Teamwork makes the dream work, especially within oncology....and even more so in an ambulatory setting. Additionally, working at an institution like MUSC who highlights quality and safety of care, while simultaneously expanding across and beyond the state of SC to reach those that need it most, it creates a sense of pride that you are a part of something bigger.

In this day and age, it is very easy to see the "other side" and believe it is greener. It usually isn't, but recognizing that your happiness directly results from purpose is an important prerequisite to choosing a career path. Why you do something is usually the most important question. As a nurse the answer to the why is structural to you operating under your license, and that goes for why you became a nurse. Is it to make an impact on the healthcare system? Is it to be the smiling face today that causes the patient to fight another day? Is it the way you delivered care to the "challenging" patient that caused them to be vulnerable and open up to you? Being a nurse is hard at times, but on any given moment you can change the person's life in front of you for the better. You as the nurse often sees people at their worst and can breathe life into a situation that otherwise may have been too much to handle for them. Never forget that no matter where your nursing journey takes you........you make a difference!

I have worked as a bedside RN both inpatient and outpatient, infusion RN, clinical educator, clinic/infusion supervisor, and now ambulatory manager. I have 3 different nursing degrees and have been a part of countless unit-based, hospital-wide, and even national projects......But I am most proud of being at the bedside working alongside other amazing staff and nurses, knowing that I made the patient's experience better. Better by being a good teacher, being approachable, and safe. Making mom laugh that day while her son received chemo. Putting a dad at ease by explaining a procedure more thoroughly that would take place the next day for his daughter who had leukemia. Even the most difficult situations where death was knocking on the patient's door and I was able to share my faith or alleviate some of their fear. Those are the moments I am most proud of......not the publications or the degrees, but the people I had a direct impact on, and through each of those pillar moments I am proud to say I had an amazing team beside me.