Allana Akhtar/Business Insider
- There’s a lot about being a nurse that many people outside of healthcare don’t understand.
- To find out more about the profession, Business Insider spent a day shadowing Czarina Cecilio, a registered nurse at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Multiple Myeloma Center in New York City.
- Cecilio said the best part of her job was the flexibility, and the relationships she forms with the patients
- However, because one of the drugs needed in the treatment is facing a national shortage, Cecilio spends a lot of time on the phone with manufacturers and drug providers.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Nursing is one of the fastest-growing professions in the country — yet many nurses have told Business Insider that people outside of healthcare aren’t aware of the long hours they work. Others said they receive judgmental comments about being "just" a nurse.
To help debunk some misconceptions about the job, I decided to find out what nurses really do in a day.
I shadowed Czarina Cecilio, a 33-year-old registered nurse at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Multiple Myeloma Center in New York City. She treats patients with myeloma, a type of bone-marrow cancer.
Shadowing Cecilio was challenging, as I was not allowed to interfere with patient care. I couldn’t see Cecilio discuss patient treatment, a main part of her job. But I did notice that Cecilio was on her feet most of the day assisting patients, and she was constantly getting asked questions by the oncologist, secretary, patients, and other nurses.
I learned that not only did Cecilio have to know the ins and outs of myeloma treatment for her patients, she was constantly managing interpersonal relationships around the clinic. And because one of the drugs needed in the treatment is facing a national shortage, Cecilio spends a lot of time on the phone with manufacturers and drug providers.
Here’s what it’s like to be a registered nurse at a cancer clinic in New York City.
This is Czarina Cecilio, a registered nurse at the Multiple Myeloma Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in Manhattan. Cecilio has been working there since 2008, starting as a med tech and working her way to become the center’s clinical nurse liaison.
Allana Akhtar/Business Insider
At first, Cecilio avoided the job because of "the whole stereotype of if you’re Filipino, you must be a nurse," as she told Business Insider. She got her undergraduate degree in anthropology and went into medical research.
She eventually got a spot as a medical technician, an entry-level nurse job. While she enjoyed her work as a med tech, she found herself unable to answer many of her patients’ questions regarding treatment. She went to nursing school to get a more thorough medical education.
As clinical nurse liaison, Cecilio performs the traditional duties of a registered nurse, while also helping manage the office, ensure patient medication has arrived, and assisting the clinic’s main physician, Dr. Ruben Niesvizky.
Allana Akhtar/Business Insider
Cecilio is the head RN of the practice, and her main responsibilities include educating patients on their therapy regimen and helping them get medication, supervising medical technicians, and keeping the clinic workflow organized.
Her day starts at around 7:30 am, when she drops off her son Ezio at daycare. The daycare has a partnership with the Weill hospital system, so many working parents drop their kids there, too.
Allana Akhtar/Business Insider
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- These are the highest-paying jobs in Hawaii, which joined the Union 60 years ago today
- Suicides among nurses are on the rise. Here’s why one of America’s fastest-growing jobs is facing a major crisis.
- The 25 US cities where workers spend the most time at their jobs, have the longest commutes, and use the least of their vacation days
SEE ALSO: THEN AND NOW: Here’s how being a nurse has changed in the last 50 years
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Allana Akhtar)