Influx Of Cancer Patients Places Strain On Hospitals
The American Cancer Society has projected new cases of cancer for 2012 to be significantly higher than the already intimidating figures for 2011. Last year, new cancer cases were estimated at 1.59 million nationally, with 571,950 of these patients likely to die from the disease. This year, it is 1.638 million new cases.
This of course creates an even greater challenge for our hospitals and their staff, who are treating many of these cases on an ongoing basis. Many hospitals now have or are developing their own cancer wards or fully-fledged buildings dedicated to the variety of cancer treatments now available. The traditional roles of doctor and nurse are being refined, as oncology becomes an ever-growing field of professional specialization. Oncology nurses did not exist 50 years ago, when the treatment for cancer was just plain surgery; now, they are in demand more than ever before.
Oncology nurses can now specialize down even further, into chemotherapy, radiation, hematology, palliative care, and so forth, making this field a diverse career path. There is the matter of the added training requirement, but they are rewarded with a salary rate about 10% higher than their registered nurse counterparts- although still not as high as the nurse practitioner salary. For doctors, there is the added potential of setting up a private oncology clinic or working for various hospitals as a consultant.
As a career path, oncology nursing or ‘doctoring’ is a good choice, however tragic the reasons for that may be. As shown by the data from the American Cancer Society, this disease is not going away any time soon. On the national level, our hopes and efforts must be placed in finding a cure- or, failing that, more effective treatments.
To this end, inspiring work is being done all over the world. Although diagnoses are increasing, so are the survival rates- to illustrate, despite the jump of nearly 700,000 projected cases this year, expected fatalities have risen by a comparatively slight 6,000. Although of course any number of deaths is too many, it is encouraging to see the ratio of survival on the rise. This is due in large part to the innovations of dedicated researches as well as the treatment administered in our hardworking hospitals.