Exploring the Pediatric Oncology Specialty (Podcast)

Before becoming a nurse leader, Meredith Foxx, MSN, MBA, APRN, NEA-BC specialized in pediatric oncology.

“Everyone would say, ‘Oh, my God, how do you take care of kids with cancer?’” recalls Foxx, Executive Chief Nursing Officer for Cleveland Clinic Health System. “It’s pretty rewarding. It’s pretty satisfying. And there’s so much good that happens every day that outweighs the bad.”

Some of those positive moments are connected to former patients, like the man in his twenties who sends her an annual Christmas card and a clinical nurse at Cleveland Clinic who works on the unit where Foxx cared for her years ago.

In this episode of Cleveland Clinic’s Nurse Essentials podcast, Foxx discusses the highs and lows of being a clinical nurse in pediatric oncology, as well as other lessons learned in her 25-year nursing career. She shares:

• Her journey into pediatric oncology and advice for nursing students considering a specialty
• The significant role that parents and families play in caring for children
• Heartwarming experiences with pediatric patients who impacted her
• How to tap into your resiliency and continue to care for and support patients on tough days
• Her experience as a clinical nurse specialist and a nurse practitioner – and the difference between the two roles

Click the podcast player above to listen to the episode now, or read on for a short edited excerpt. Check out more Nurse Essentials episodes at my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/nurse-essentials or wherever you get your podcasts.

Podcast excerpt

Podcast host Carol Pehotsky, DNP, RN, NEA-BC: That nurse that maybe is thinking about changing specialties or that new grad – any advice you'd give them in terms of narrowing down to at least, "Where do I want to start in terms of a specialty?"

Foxx: What brought you excitement in your nursing school program? Would you get really excited learning about the brain? Are you really excited learning about the heart? Were you more about the holistic head to toe? Are you more technical? Is it really about knowledge in the family unit? So, I think you would really have to think about what excited you and what did you not want to close the textbook in reading about possibly?

And I think the other piece is exploring what the different options are. And it's OK to think about wanting to shadow and look at different, as a nursing student, your clinical rotations. If you're not feeling jazzed about something, ask to go to explore other places or other areas.

There are so many specialties and so many things out there. And I love when I talk to nurses who found their kind of excitement or jam in a particular specialty – especially when it's not something I was ever excited about. Because I'm thankful that there's people that want to do A and B, C, D. We need everybody.

Pehotsky: And there's no expiration data on shadowing. You don't have to only shadow when you're a nursing student. You can shadow any time.

Foxx: And, you know, with the exploration of the nursing profession in healthcare, we're trying different things. We're looking at hybrid roles. We're looking at dynamic career pathing. We're looking at ways to explore different ways to work to really allow for all nurses to feel professionally fulfilled and meet their needs.