Meet the winner of the first annual Beth Baldwin Oncology Nurse Award

[00:00:00] Host Amber Smith: Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York invites you to be "The Informed Patient" with the podcast that features experts from Central New York's only academic medical center. I'm your host, Amber Smith. Today I am talking about oncology nursing with Lauren Calloway. She's a nurse at the Upstate Cancer Center who received the first annual Beth Baldwin Oncology Nurse Award. Welcome to "The Informed Patient," Ms. Calloway.

[00:00:27] Lauren Calloway: Thanks. Nice to be here.

[00:00:29] Host Amber Smith: The award you received from the Carol Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund is for the oncology nurse who represents excellence in care and passion for cancer patients. This is a meaningful award from a meaningful research fund that is raised more than $4 million for breast cancer research at Upstate. So how did it feel for you to receive the first annual nursing award?

[00:00:52] Lauren Calloway: It was actually really, really cool. I was pretty surprised, because I actually hadn't really heard about it before. I got told I got the award. And then actually when I was there too, receiving the award, Beth Baldwin was there, and she said it was a surprise for her in January that her family told her they made the award in her name. So she was even more excited about it too. Because she has, she does a lot in the community with all of that.

[00:01:22] Host Amber Smith: So somebody nominated you -- a coworker, or a patient? How does that work?

[00:01:27] Lauren Calloway: Yeah, so, my coworker, she's actually one of my clinical leaders, Mariel (Weston.) So she nominated me and wrote a little blurb about how I do at work and how she thought of me as a nurse. I guess with the Beth Baldwin award, they look at all the nominations and then, the committee there votes on who gets it. So, it was pretty cool. So I was, I really like Mariel. She's a nice coworker and a nice friend, so it was a nice, sweet surprise.

[00:01:53] Host Amber Smith: Oh, very nice.

[00:01:54] Lauren Calloway: Yeah.

[00:01:55] Host Amber Smith: Well, let me ask you, when did you decide that you wanted to be a nurse?

[00:02:00] Lauren Calloway: I've probably always known I wanted to do health care for a long time, like, since I was little. But, I was interested in becoming a vet at first, but I'm scared of cats, so I quickly decided not to do that. So people are definitely more for me. So when I was in my junior year at Le Moyne (College) doing my undergrad in biology, I was trying to decide between nursing and PA (physician assistant) school.

St. Joe's and Le Moyne came out with their first ever advanced dual degree nursing program. So it's, in 18 months, you get your bachelor's at Le Moyne, while getting your RN at St. Joe's. And just thinking about that program and, more about how I felt as a nurse, I get a little bit more hands-on with patients and more interaction. So that's why I picked the nursing route versus PA.

[00:02:51] Host Amber Smith: Did you like the 18 months? I mean, that's, that's heavy duty.

[00:02:55] Lauren Calloway: Yeah. Yeah. So I was lucky enough to just work like an easy part-time job while I was doing that. And I still lived at home with my parents, so, that was awesome because I had a lot of extra time that I could study and put into it.

But there were so many people in my class too that had full-time jobs, families, and still did it as well. So it's a challenging program, but anybody can work hard and do it. So I enjoyed it.

[00:03:23] Host Amber Smith: But you said from an early age you knew you were kind of attracted to the medical field. You liked science, I guess?

Yes. Yeah, I actually, I always loved science, but math was probably my favorite subject. So what was your first nursing job?

[00:03:38] Lauren Calloway: I worked briefly in pediatric oncology at (Upstate) Golisano (Children's Hospital.) They were hiring new grads, right out of nursing school, which they hadn't done in a long time. So I got to do... well you do a transition to practice at the end of nursing school, where you get to do a certain amount of hours on a unit. So I picked pediatric oncology, and that's where I grew to love it more. So when they had the job opening, I applied for it. So I worked there for a few months. But working with kids was pretty heartbreaking. So I actually, I stopped there and went into dialysis, which I loved as well.

But then I came back to adult oncology, and that's definitely my thing.

[00:04:24] Host Amber Smith: So when did you know for sure that you had chosen the right career?

[00:04:28] Lauren Calloway: Honestly probably right in nursing school. Like just all of my classmates that were in there, we were a really good like bonding team. It was a hard thing to go through together, but everybody had each other's back, so it gave a goodstanding of having support. So I felt that basically my whole nursing career now of having a good support of coworkers. So it just kind of trickled. And then of course, the patients, I just, I love them. They're so nice to work with.

[00:04:59] Host Amber Smith: You're listening to Upstate's "The Informed Patient" podcast. I'm your host Amber Smith. I'm talking with Lauren Calloway, who is an oncology nurse at the Upstate Cancer Center.

So what do you think pulled you toward oncology nursing?

[00:05:14] Lauren Calloway: My grandma, she had breast cancer. I think probably the first time she had it, I was in middle school. And then she had it a couple more times after after that. So I kind of got introduced to that a little bit. And then my grandma, she actually used to go to a private practice, so she was telling me about it there, and I was like, oh, that actually sounds like it could be a good job too, especially like with adults.

So she really helped guide me in this direction just with her history and motivation.

[00:05:49] Host Amber Smith: So what is your day typically like?

[00:05:52] Lauren Calloway: So at the Upstate Cancer Center, I typically work in infusion. There are some other specialty roles you can work in as well, but I'm mainly working in an infusion.

So, you come in, you get assigned two or three rooms per nurse. And then there's an assigner that assigns different patients to the different nurses. And there's like a whole strategy of how that works. But, you start your one patient. You draw labs, you assess them. It's nice you only have two or three at a time because you really can spend the extra time you need with the patient. Everybody needs somebody to talk to, and you need to give them your undivided attention.

It's a tough thing to walk through the door. So I enjoy that part too. We hang chemo, we hang supportive therapy like hydration, electrolytes, iron infusions, blood. So we do a lot of different things here, too. And I love doing all of it.

[00:06:53] Host Amber Smith: Is it hard to stay upbeat when you're working with patients that are so ill?

[00:06:58] Lauren Calloway: No, I'm a pretty positive person. And I like to leave everything at the door and, again, give my undivided attention and like good vibes and good energy to patients. And you know, some patients are having harder days than others.

And I mean, you got to do what you got to do to make them the most comfortable. Like, you know, you might not be able to make somebody as happy when they're not having a good day, but just to make them more comfortable and just know you're there for them is important. So I do my best toput on a good face and be the good support that patients need.

[00:07:35] Host Amber Smith: Do you have some general advice for people who learn they have cancer in terms of getting through the treatment?

[00:07:42] Lauren Calloway: Definitely support. Whether it's family, friends, us at the cancer center, or like support groups. I know a lot of people like to do that. I feel like support is a really big thing that people need. Even if they don't think they need it at the time, I think it's a good thing to have eventually when they're ready for it.

[00:08:02] Host Amber Smith: Is this a specialty that you would recommend to other nurses?

[00:08:05] Lauren Calloway: Yeah, 100 %. And,when nurses get hired here too, they do a really good job at picking the most like compassionate people to work here because everybody that works here is just, they're so kind and like for the patient and we all love each other here, so it's a really, really good place to work at.

[00:08:26] Host Amber Smith: That's good to know. Well, thank you for making time for telling us about this.

[00:08:30] Lauren Calloway: Yeah, no problem.

[00:08:32] Host Amber Smith: My guest has been Lauren Calloway, an oncology nurse from the Upstate Cancer Center. "The Informed Patient" is a podcast covering health, science and medicine, brought to you by Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, and produced by Jim Howe with sound engineering by Bill Broeckel and graphic design by Dan Cameron. Find our archive of previous episodes at upstate.edu/informed. If you enjoyed this episode, please invite a friend to listen. You can also rate and review "The Informed Patient" podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you tune in. This is your host, Amber Smith, thanking you for listening.