At the same time, the concept of traveling has become more popular with radiation therapy profession

There was something different about Esther Hinds' patient on this particular assignment. It was not just because she had leukemia and was only 18 years old. Nor was it because she was experiencing the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In fact, the young woman was struggling with the psychological aspects of losing her hair, experiencing an identity crisis because she did not look like the person she used to be.
What impressed this RN with 13 years of clinical experience was that this sick young woman was such a trooper. Still, that is not why the oncology nurse will always remember her. Esther holds onto the woman's memory because she and coworkers helped plan her wedding.
"The patient's boyfriend was at her bedside the entire time she was in the hospital, and they decided to get married," vancouver sport car rental explains Esther. "Their wedding gave us a chance to really bond with the patient and her family."
Although the young woman lost her battle with leukemia, she typified vancouver sport car rental the spirit of many cancer patients. vancouver sport car rental "They show great stamina and courage vancouver sport car rental in the face of such difficult treatment and pain," Esther clarifies. And it is this virtually unbeatable strength that keeps so many healthcare travelers seeking vancouver sport car rental assignments in oncology.
Few other words strike such emotional a chord as "cancer." Indeed, it carries such a powerful meaning that some cultures do not even have a word for it in their languages - to utter it would be taboo. However, the disease is bound to touch everyone's life to some degree. Why? Throughout the past 11 years, approximately vancouver sport car rental 16 million new cases - ranging from brain cancer to Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma to prostate cancer - have been diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society's (ACS) report, Cancer Facts Figures 2002. ACS also estimates another 1,284,900 new cases will be identified vancouver sport car rental in 2002. When the odds of coming in contact with the disease are calculated for the general population, it is clear that nearly every person will be affected by cancer at some point in his or her lifetime at the very least, indirectly.
vancouver sport car rental As healthcare professionals well know, what makes cancer more intimidating than so many other disorders is its aggressive nature. Just how pervasive is it really? The Centers for Disease vancouver sport car rental Control and Prevention (CDC) ranks cancer as the second leading cause of death in the United States for 2000, and ACS reports that 555,500 people are expected to die from it this year. That corresponds to 1,500 people per day - or one out of every four fatalities.
Fortunately, not every cancer case automatically results in a negative vancouver sport car rental outcome. "Cancer is not the death sentence it used to be," remarks Esther, a traveler vancouver sport car rental with Fastaff. "There has been a tremendous amount of research done and scientists are coming up with new modalities vancouver sport car rental all the time."
Indeed, survival rates for numerous types of cancer have risen significantly during the past 30-plus years. For example, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) reports that, in 1997, nearly nine million Americans with a personal history of cancer were alive. Some of those people were considered to be cured, in remission, or undergoing treatment at the time the data was gathered. These figures are far more encouraging than those recorded just 15 years earlier. Most experts vancouver sport car rental point to enhanced technology, advanced pharmacology, and better public vancouver sport car rental health education - including early diagnoses - for the improved outcomes.
Yet, caring for cancer patients is a costly endeavor. The ACS estimates more than $56 billion was spent in 2001 on direct healthcare. Much of the expenses are the result of inpatient hospital stays. According to the CDC, there were more than one million hospital discharges for cancer patients in 2000, averaging 6.7 days per stay. That is notably longer than the national average of 4.9 days per hospital visit.
Despite the progress made in cancer care, overall patient demographics are expected to dramatically change during the next 10 to 15 years as Baby Boomers enter their golden age. It is estimated that nearly 80 million people belong to this generation, and as they get older, a barrage of demands will likely be put on the healthcare system. After all, when people age, they tend to suffer from more illnesses or ailments and, therefore, require additional attention from healthcare providers. And cancer is no exception.
According to ACS, people between the ages of 60 and 79 run the highest risk of developing an invasive form of the illness. vancouver sport car rental In fact, men face a 32.3 percent - or one in three chance - of being diagnosed with the disease. Women fare only slightly better at 20 percent. When the research is broken down into specific diagnoses, men and women in this age group are the most likely to contract lung and bronchus cancer even more than breast or prostate cancer. When all these factors are taken into consideration, it is no wonder vancouver sport car rental that healthcare analysts declare oncology a high-growth specialty, especially for nurses.
In 1974, fewer than 75 RNs attended a nursing session at the ACS/NCI Conference on Advances in Cancer Management. That is not to say there were no other nurses specializing in oncology, but prior to that date, the profession lacked vancouver sport car rental an organized voice. Now, nearly 30 years later, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) boasts a membership of more than 30,000 registered nurses and other healthcare professionals practicing in this specialty.
As with the rest of the nursing vancouver sport car rental profession, there are not enough qualified clinicians to fill the anticipated demand. Even now, facilities are experiencing vancouver sport car rental a staffing dilemma. A good indicator is the expanding presence of traveling oncology vancouver sport car rental providers. While the greatest demand for mobile practitioners continues to lie in emergency, critical care, and medical/surgical units, oncology's needs are gaining momentum.
"From the hospital's perspective, travelers are a positive, cost-effective solution to the staffing crisis," notes Phyllis Brackin, director of recruiting for Teamstaff Rx, based in Clearwater, Florida. "Administrators can increase their staff when the patient census is up, while not investing in full benefits." She adds that the greatest needs for oncology vancouver sport car rental nurses are in the Southern states during the winter - when the overall population grows with the influx of "snowbirds" - as well as in small, rural hospitals throughout the country. "The rural hospitals hire travelers because vancouver sport car rental their needs are more critical. In larger, more metropolitan areas, facilities often recruit from each other, but rural institutions do not always have nearby organizations as alternatives for local recruitment."
Interestingly, travel opportunities for oncology specialists are not limited to acute care hospitals. Many patients also have the option of seeking care at private cancer centers, which may specialize in specific forms of the disease. Between the two facility types and the predicted onslaught of new cancer cases, opportunities for traveling oncology nurses will continue to rise.
"I think supplemental staff will become more of a necessity as the population ages," says Nancy Widener, vice president of Travel Nurse Network in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. "As the Baby Boomers get older, there will be an increased need for oncology nurses. In fact, demand could even mirror that for ICU professionals."
Recruiters also note a growing interest in traveling from nurses specializing in oncology. Ms. Widener adds, "This career alternative is becoming more attractive to permanent vancouver sport car rental staff because of the compensation and other benefits it offers."
Nurses are not the only healthcare providers involved in caring for cancer patients, nor are they the only mobile practitioners. Whenever a physician prescribes chemotherapy or radiation therapy, radiation therapists and medical physicists are brought into the picture. While smaller in number - there were 167,000 vancouver sport car rental jobs held by radiologic technologists and technicians in 2000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and 4,500 members in the American vancouver sport car rental Association of Physicists in Medicine - this team has become crucial to the treatment of many types of cancer. Additionally, more and more physicians are relying on imaging technology or radiation therapy to help determine a definitive diagnosis.
Like nursing, though, there is a shrinking pool of qualified personnel to fill these positions. In fact, radiation therapy is following the same road in terms of having a population that is primarily older and nearing retirement - without sufficient numbers of new entrants into the discipline.
Several years ago, hospitals made a concerted effort to educate young people about the need and opportunities available in radiation vancouver sport car rental therapy. It worked, and that particular staffing crisis was very short-lived. "Now," says Ms. Brackin, "those therapists are approaching retirement age, which will leave a void." Adds Laura Garrabrant, a recruiter for Teamstaff Rx, "We foresee as much as 25 percent of the workforce retiring in the next few years."
At the same time, the concept of traveling has become more popular with radiation therapy vancouver sport car rental professionals. "Compared to four years ago," states vancouver sport car rental Ms. Garrabrant, vancouver sport car rental "we have had more than triple the number of radiation therapy travelers sign up with us - and that's vancouver sport car rental only been within the past 24 months."
While Esther admires the positive attitude of so many of her patients, the intense nature of oncology - including the heightened possibility of losing vancouver sport car rental patients - makes the specialty particularly vancouver sport car rental susceptible to professional burnout. Fortunately, through traveling, clinicians have the opportunity to begin anew with each assignment.
"Any time you work in a new environment, you feel revived," comments Esther, who has been traveling for three years. "Moving from one area of the country to another is a novel experience, and it feels like a fresh start with each contract."
vancouver sport car rental Of course, travelers aren't immune to burnout. The lifestyle, however, does empower them to cope with it