Nurse to Know: Charrisa Cordon C ommuniqué

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Canadian OnCOlOgy nursing JOurnal • VOlume 25, issue 4, Fall 2015
reVue Canadienne de sOins inFirmiers en OnCOlOgie
Communiqué
Nurse to Know: Charrisa Cordon
What is your present role? What do you
do in that role?
I am currently a Collaborative
Practice Leader at St. Joseph’s Health
Centre in Toronto. In this role, I pro-
vide leadership support to Advanced
Practice Clinical Educators across the
organization, specically with integrat-
ing scholarship into their practice. As
a practice leader, I support practice,
education, evidence-based care, and
process standardization where appro-
priate across programs and health sys-
tems. I also lead the implementation
of best practice guidelines and quality
improvement initiatives, and evaluate
complex change processes across the
organization.
What drew you into nursing? What
inuenced you to become a nurse?
My mom is a nurse, and she has
greatly inuenced my decision to enter
into the profession of nursing. I was in
my third year of biology when I realized
that I wanted to get into health sciences
and work in a eld where I could work
directly with people and make a dier-
ence. With my mom’s encouragement,
I applied into nursing school and was
lucky enough to have been accepted into
the second-entry nursing program at
the University of Toronto.
What drew you into oncology nursing?
What inuenced you to become an
oncology nurse?
I actually did not know what eld
I wanted to specialize in when I was
a nursing student. After complet-
ing a clinical rotation at the Princess
Margaret Hospital (Toronto), I knew
that oncology was the eld I wanted
to pursue. So, I’d say that I stumbled
into oncology serendipitously. And I’m
really glad I did. I loved the fact that I
was learning something new every day.
But more importantly, I felt a sense of
belonging, and great satisfaction after
each of my shifts. I was able to make
meaningful connections with patients
and families. And, to me, that was
important.
I still remember many of the
patients I took care of as a nursing
student. I remember one patient in
particular, Mrs. T. My preceptor and
I took care of her when she had her
induction for AML. I still remember
her illness trajectory, such as when she
got her tunnelled line inserted, her rst
dose of chemotherapy, when she had
to cut her hair shorter to prepare for
her alopecia, and when she had mye-
losuppression and febrile neutropenia.
I remember when we gave her dis-
charge instructions after her hospital
stay, because it was a happy moment
for everyone. I think it was around this
time that I decided that I really liked
being an oncology nurse.
How would you characterize or describe
the driving forces for you regarding
your practice as a nurse?
Empathy, altruism, and passion drive
everything I do. I use these principles
every day, as a nurse and as a nurse
leader, such as when making decisions,
or leading projects/initiatives. To me,
empathy is important, because I need
to always be aware and have an under-
standing of other people’s lived expe-
rience; this is what drives the care or
service that I need to provide. Altruism
is equally as important, because it
means that I am doing the ‘right thing’.
The ‘right-thing’ could then mean pro-
viding evidence-informed care, or mak-
ing evidence-informed decisions, and
balancing these to ensure optimal
patient outcomes. Lastly, passion—I
am passionate about what I do, and I
put a lot of energy into it. As a result, I
am always driving myself to do things
better.
What do you nd most exciting about
being a nurse?
What I nd most exciting about
being an oncology nurse, is the endless
possibilities of the initiatives we can do
to improve patient outcomes. For exam-
ple, now when I meet a nurse at social
events, I am always asking them how
they are improving patient safety events,
or what programs their organizations
have in place to support nurses with
leading quality improvement initiatives.
I think there is so much we can do; the
possibilities are endless, and we are in
a position where we can transform the
system and shape oncology patients’
experience with their care.
What have you seen as the biggest
changes for nurses over the years of
your career?
I have been an oncology nurse for a
little longer than 10 years now. I think
that the biggest change that I have
observed over the years of my career is
related to technology and the Internet.
I nd that patients now are becoming
more informed about their disease, and
their treatments, because they can eas-
ily get information from the Internet.
I also like that there are mobile apps
available for nurses, such as CancerCare
Ontario’s Clinical Apps for Symptom
Management Guides.
What do you see are the biggest
challenges for oncology nurses or
oncology nursing today?
One of the biggest challenges for
oncology nursing today is related to
the complexities associated with the
patient population, and the environ-
ment in which we work. Our patient
population is becoming more complex.
As we deal with an aging population,
we see patients with many co-morbid-
ities or with secondary malignancies.
Our work environment is also com-
plex. For example, there are always new
advancements in health care and in

492 Volume 25, Issue 4, Fall 2015 • CanadIan onCology nursIng Journal
reVue CanadIenne de soIns InFIrmIers en onCologIe
Communiqué
technology (including information tech-
nology). As nurses, we not only need to
keep our knowledge and skills current,
but we also need to understand how to
best interact with the dierent systems
within our work environment in order
to provide great care to our patients.
What is your greatest hope for the
future of oncology nursing?
My greatest hope for the future of
oncology nursing is for oncology nurses
to continue to lead innovative activities
(through research, education, and prac-
tice) that would improve the care and
experiences of oncology patients and
their families.
What is the best advice you would give
to an individual who is considering
becoming a nurse or an oncology
nurse?
My advice for individuals who are con-
sidering becoming an oncology nurse
would be to think about the reason(s)
why they want to be a nurse. This is
because I strongly believe that being an
oncology nurse is a calling; you need
to be in it for the right reasons, and it
needs to be the right t. We are in a
eld where we care for patients and
their families during one of their most
vulnerable times, during a time of un-
certainty, grief, and suering. Being an
oncology nurse is both a challenging
and rewarding career. I don’t think I
have ever ended a shift feeling like I did
not accomplish anything, or that I didn’t
make a dierence in someone’s life.
Sometimes, our patients would come to
visit us after they have completed their
treatment, and that feeling is wonderful.
So, an individual considering becoming
an oncology nurse would need to nd
these factors appealing, in order to be
successful in the eld. A career in on-
cology nursing means that you are in a
eld where you will learn every day and
you will make a dierence in a patient’s
life every day. It is a very rewarding and
meaningful career.
Une inrmière qu’il fait bon connaître:
Charrisa Cordon
Quel est votre rôle actuel? Quelles sont
vos fonctions en vertu de ce rôle?
Je suis responsable de la pratique
en collaboration au St. Joseph’s Health
Centre de Toronto. Mon rôle consiste à
apporter du soutien aux instructeurs cli-
niques en pratique avancée de l’organisa-
tion, notamment pour les aider à intégrer
les résultats de recherche dans leur pra-
tique. Chaque fois qu’il est approprié de
le faire, j’appuie la pratique, l’éducation,
les soins fondés sur des données pro-
bantes et la normalisation des processus
dans l’ensemble des programmes et du
système de soins de santé. Je dirige aussi
la mise en œuvre des lignes directrices
sur les pratiques exemplaires et des ini-
tiatives d’amélioration de la qualité, en
plus d’évaluer les changements qui se
produisent dans l’organisation.
Qu’est-ce qui vous a attirée vers les
soins inrmiers? Qu’est-ce qui a
inuencé votre décision de devenir
inrmière?
Ma mère est inrmière, ce qui a
grandement inuencé ma décision de le
devenir à mon tour. J’étais en troisième
année d’études universitaires en biolo-
gie lorsque j’ai réalisé que les sciences
de la santé m’intéressaient vraiment et
que je souhaitais travailler directement
auprès des gens et les aider. Je me suis
donc inscrite, sur les conseils de ma
mère, à l’école des sciences inrmières
de l’Université de Toronto, où j’ai eu la
chance d’être admise.
Qu’est-ce qui vous a attirée vers les
soins inrmiers en oncologie? Qu’est-ce
qui a inuencé votre décision de
devenir inrmière en oncologie?
Pendant mes études, je ne savais pas
en quoi je me spécialiserais. C’est après
un stage clinique au centre de cancéro-
logie Princess Margaret de Toronto que
le déclic s’est fait. C’est donc en quelque
sorte un coup de chance, mais je n’ai
jamais regretté cette décision. J’apprends
quelque chose de nouveau chaque jour, ce
que j’adore. Mais plus important encore,
je termine toujours mes journées avec le
sentiment d’être au bon endroit, notam-
ment parce que j’ai pu tisser des liens de
valeur avec des patients et des familles.
J’en retire une grande satisfaction.
Je me souviens encore des nombreux
patients que j’ai suivis étant étudiante.
Une dame en particulier me revient
à l’esprit. Ma préceptrice et moi en
avions pris soin durant une induction
pour uneLMA. Je me souviens bien de
sa trajectoire de soins: quand on lui a
inséré un cathéter tunnellisé, quand elle
a reçu sa première dose de chimiothéra-
pie, quand elle a fait couper ses cheveux
pour prévenir l’alopécie, quand elle a eu
une myélosuppression et une neutro-
pénie fébrile. Mais aussi quand elle est
sortie de l’hôpital, car c’était un moment
de joie pour tous. Je pense que c’est à
peu près à ce moment-là que j’ai décidé
que la carrière d’inrmière en oncologie
me plairait vraiment.