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Exploring Opportunities in Oncology Nursing · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, and thank you for tuning in to Cancer Conversations
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  on Talking FACS, a podcast collaboration between the University of Kentucky
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  Markey Cancer Center and the UK Marti-Gatton College of Agriculture,
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  Food and Environments Cooperative Extension Service.
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  We will share with you the latest developments in cancer prevention,
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  diagnosis, treatment and research from the experts at Markey Cancer Center,
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  Kentucky's only National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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  Talking FACS is hosted by the UK Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  Hello and welcome to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS.
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  This is a partnership presentation between the University of Kentucky Markey
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  Cancer Center and the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food,
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  and Environment's Cooperative Extension Service.
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  Together, we are raising awareness and bringing cancer information to local
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  communities across the Commonwealth.
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  I am your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension.
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  Nursing is a profession that includes many specialty areas of practice.
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  Oncology is one of those nursing specialties that specializes in caring for
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  people who have or are at risk for developing cancer.
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  My guest today, Dr. Susan Yackzan, is the Enterprise Director for Service Line
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  Performance Management, and she is here today to share with us about oncology
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  nursing careers. Welcome, Dr. Yackzan.
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  Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be with you. I love that your work
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  not only involves treating people who have cancer, but also involves wellness,
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  and cancer prevention, as well as following up with cancer survivors.
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  How did you become an oncology nurse? Well, that's a great question.
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  So nursing as a whole, you know, is sort of like, if you think of it like an
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  umbrella, that's the profession.
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  And then you would go to a nursing school, and there are multiple ways to get
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  into a nursing school and to become a nurse, you know.
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  So there are bachelor's prepared programs like what we have at UK.
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  In the community college system, we have associate degree programs.
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  And so you do that first and go through the college, get your degree,
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  and then you become a licensed nurse through the State Board of Nursing.
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  And in Kentucky, that's the Kentucky
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  Board of Nursing. And then most of us choose a specialty from there.
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  So usually that's something that we encounter during our education,
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  or it may be something that you know you want to do.
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  You know, so some people come to be an oncology nurse because someone in their family has had cancer,
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  you know, and they've had an experience with the kind of care that goes in to
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  that and they know that they want to be an oncology nurse, you know,
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  so we come at this with different from different paths.
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  Within oncology, are there other
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  more specialized areas or different certifications that you have to get?
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  Yeah, it's a great question. There are lots of subspecialties in oncology nursing.
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  You know, so similar to medical specialties, you can specialize in medical oncology,
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  and that really is the treatment of cancer with chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
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  You know, so it's a lot of medication or immunologic maneuvers or infusions
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  that we give to patients to treat cancer.
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  Radiation oncology is the use of radiation to treat cancer.
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  Surgical oncology is another way, another avenue for nursing and medical specialties.
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  And in surgical oncology, it's the use of surgery to treat cancer.
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  GYN oncology is a subspecialty where you take care of women with particular
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  cancers. And you do both surgery and medical oncology in that field.
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  And then there's, you know, even fancy things like stem and bone marrow transplant.
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  So, yeah, lots of different specialties and ways for nurses to work within the cancer field.
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  Can you share a little bit with our listeners about your own career and how
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  your progression of specialization and certification has occurred?
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  Sure. So I have a pretty long career in oncology nursing, so I've done a lot of different things.
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  Starting really with academic medical centers, but also in community hospital cancer programs.
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  And I mostly work with adult patients. So I didn't mention that before,
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  but nurses could work with pediatric patients or with adults.
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  But my career has been with adult oncology.
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  And I've worked in medical oncology, hematology oncology, GYN oncology,
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  surgical oncology, a little bit of radiation and with transplant.
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  And then I've been a staff nurse.
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  But also in what we call an advanced practice nurse, which means I have a graduate degree.
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  And then I actually have a PhD. And so I have been a nurse scientist as well.
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  So lots of different roles, clinical and administrative. And I happen to be
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  in an administrative role right now.
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  And I noticed that you also are an APRN.
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  So what does that mean?
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  Okay. So great question. An APRN is an advanced practice registered nurse.
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  So in the state of Kentucky, when you become a nurse and in every state,
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  you can license as an RN or a registered nurse.
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  And if you have an advanced degree, so a postgraduate degree,
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  and that could be a master's or a doctoral education, you can license as an
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  advanced practice registered nurse.
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  And many people are familiar with nurse practitioners. That's one advanced practice
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  role. Another one is a clinical nurse specialist, which is my advanced practice role.
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  Most clinical nurse specialists work in hospital settings, but we're an advanced
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  practice registered nurse.
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  Two other ones, just so we're, you know, we cover them all while we're talking,
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  are nurse midwives and CRNA, so nurse anesthetists.
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  So those are the four advanced practice roles.
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  It's fascinating to me because I think about the nurses who have cared for me
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  over the years from when I was a child and in my adult life.
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  But I don't even think about all of the other specialties that you all can be involved in.
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  And it's such a broad range, isn't it?
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  It is a huge range. And, you know, what I like to tell people who are interested
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  in nursing is that there is a place for you in nursing.
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  And it's just a plethora of opportunity, you know, and it's fine to go from
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  one area to another, you know, and if one doesn't seem perfect for you,
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  the next one might, you know, and in my case, it's really been a.
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  A long trajectory in my career of learning all these different facets about
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  cancer, you know, so that really is my passion.
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  And, you know, if I can put those all together, that makes patient care even better.
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  What's the best thing about being an oncology nurse?
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  So, hands down, the number one thing for me is about patient relationship,
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  you know, so it is my passion,
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  oncology nursing, and really it's my passion because of the relationship that
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  I conform with my patients and families.
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  You know, so it's a privilege. I feel that it's a privilege whenever I'm with patients and families.
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  And they trust me to take care of them. And it is truly the best thing.
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  And I like trying to help make a difference in what they're going through.
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  The other thing that I would say about oncology nursing, and this is another
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  passion for me, it's just about science.
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  You know, so for me, it's the perfect combination of care and science.
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  You know, so we don't have all the answers in cancer.
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  We need people who are scientific in their approach. We need people who like
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  to learn new things because new things are happening in cancer all the time,
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  which is a good thing for patients who have a diagnosis of cancer.
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  And we need the people, the clinicians caring for patients to like that and
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  to want to do better all the time.
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  You know, so we need to have inquiring minds and we need to be able to put the
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  care with the science all the time when we're working with patients. I love that.
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  Inquiring minds help to improve patient care. Absolutely.
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  As we wrap up, what would you say to someone who is thinking about a career in nursing?
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  How would you guide them towards oncology nursing?
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  I've talked to a lot of people, actually, who are interested in nursing and
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  don't exactly know what they want to do.
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  You know, so oncology nursing, sometimes it's not the first thing that comes to mind.
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  And there are a lot of reasons for that. I think we're kind of a hidden treasure.
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  So one of the things I talk to people about is how do you want to make a difference
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  or what do you want to do? What do you like?
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  And if people tell me that they love relationships, you know,
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  and they like talking to people, if they tell me, you know, that they love learning
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  things, you know, one of the things that I always say to them is,
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  have you thought about oncology nursing.
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  There are 45,000 oncology nurses who are members of the Oncology Nursing Society,
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  which is our national organization.
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  There are over 100,000 oncology nurses across the nation, and we have a worldwide
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  presence as well. So there are a lot of us.
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  And we have a local Oncology Nursing Society chapter, and I sometimes invite
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  students or people who are interested in oncology nursing to check us out or
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  to learn more about us. I love it when people fall into oncology nursing with me.
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  Oh, I think that's perfect.
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  Mentoring students and guiding them along the path is a great way to get them
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  involved in a career that is meaningful to you and hopefully will be meaningful to them.
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  Yeah, it's a great mix. We're a good group of people. We would love to have
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  more people join us. I think that's perfect.
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  And you have provided several links that we will provide in the show notes so
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  that if people are interested in joining you in your career,
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  they can click on the links and find out more information.
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  Great. Thank you so much. Dr. Yackzan, thank you so much for your time and for
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  sharing with us about your career and how others can become involved. It's been my pleasure.
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  If you are just tuning in, you're listening to Cancer Conversations on Talking
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  Thank you for listening to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS.
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  Our goal is to connect you with the latest advances in cancer research in the Commonwealth.
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  If you enjoyed today's podcast and have a suggestion for a future show topic,
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  Please message us on the UK Markey Cancer Center Facebook page at facebook.com
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