CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM A nurse’s career
found herJacqui Mitchell credits God for
putting her to work in oncologyI work in an outpatient chemotherapy clinic at St. Francis, which means I do chemotherapy for cancer patients who do not need to be in the hospital. We have all these machines that we use for things like stem cell harvests and we do other therapies. Basically I do anything that has to do with cancer treatment.
I'm also a full-time Hawaii Pacific University student. And I'm the proud mother of a brand new puppy. Life is busy these days. I'm going for my master's in nursing with a focus on clinical nurse specialist in oncology.
My mom had a brain aneurysm when I was 19. She wound up stroked out in the hospital in a coma. The nursing care that I saw made me angry. I just didn't think it was right. I said "I could do better than this." I was flying at the time, training to be a pilot. I wound up changing direction completely. Then I wound up taking a job in California in oncology, which I did not want to do. But everything I've done is not what I planned to do. It was a God thing.
I had been a surgical nurse and I did not want to go into oncology because people die and it was too depressing. That was my attitude. But there's something about cancer patients, they are different from other patients. They have a spirituality and a heart. I have learned more about myself and how to treat other people from them. They are an amazing group of people.
When I was in California, I was offered a choice between a job in Texas or a travel nurse job here. I came to St. Francis and I've stayed for 11 years. I love Hawaii. I just bought a house. I'm not leaving.
I did bone marrow transplant at St. Francis for eight years, then moved to the outpatient clinic. I've been in oncology for 12 years, and nursing for 16. So I decided it was time to go back for my master's.
Nurses today need to stand tall in what they believe in and what they think. Nursing has changed in the last 10 years. Nurses are taking a bigger role in the community.
I would like to move on to a clinical nurse position. I believe I'm a strong patient advocate and a strong educator. I think patient choice is important and nurses have a vital role in explaining patients' choices to them. Doctors can outline choices, but they don't have the time to really spend talking to patients.
Cancer patients are scared. Nurses need to make them feel comfortable. They need to explain that this is not the end, it's the beginning and this is going to work. I think nurses are in a better position to offer that than anyone else in health care.
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