Oncology nurses are those who specialize in the treatment of cancer. One of the surprises here is that they do, at least at times, administer treatments like radiation therapy and chemotherapy. That’s the sort of action that in other areas of medicine is more usually reserved for doctors. So if you were to become an oncology nurse, there’d be a great deal more actual medicine involved, rather than just the caring for people while it’s done that is usual in other specialties.

It’s also true that nursing those with cancer can be emotionally harrowing. It’s entirely possible to have a patient who looks and acts entirely fit but who has, in reality, a terminal (and untreatable) cancer. The only unknown is when they are going to die of it, not whether.

On the brighter side of the job this situation is happening less often than it was. Not only are cancer rates falling (the rise in total numbers is because we are living longer. The true measure, age adjusted cancer rates, are falling) but survival rates are rising. More can be done and each passing year brings more, and more effective, treatments to continue that process.

Training is as with other types of nursing, via a four or two year college degree or a Diploma and then the license exam. However, given the complexity of the treatments it can be advisable for you to go on and get a further college degree, a Master’s in Nursing. This can usually be done while you are working and can lead you a long way. I’ve seen a job advertisement recently offering $120,000 a year for a senior oncology nurse. That’s pretty good money by anyone’s standards.