Moffitt Cancer Center

Hey everyone,

As my journey with Moffitt has come to an end this week I just felt I should reflect on it for myself and for others whether you've ever been to Moffitt, worked at Moffitt, or have just heard the name. Moffitt Cancer Center is an incredible place. I started working there after my mom was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and I watched how dedicated their staff is. I started as a patient observer AKA a sitter for confused or suicidal people and even back then I found out how special of a place Moffitt is. Working 8 or 12 hour shifts sitting in a room could really suck. At times it's hard to stay awake and it also can be scary too. But what made it all worth it was watching these people and their loved ones go through this journey fully fighting, giving their cancer everything they could. And when it was a case where the fight got the best of them, I would watch as the family came to stay by their sick loved ones side. It's quite humbling, watching people go through such a nasty disease but yet never give up. 

Transitioning from being an observer to a tech taught me so much about working as a team. I had never worked in such a large organization, and floating throughout the hospital I got to learn so much. I still had the interactions with patients that I did before, but got to learn about the aspect of nursing care at a higher level. If you're in nursing school and reading this: get a job as a tech. I've discovered the best nurses usually were a tech (CNA) first and they respect the techs they work with so much more. 

My final Moffitt transition was from tech to nurse and I couldn't have thought of a better place to work. I already knew what an amazing place it was from being in the environment for over a year. When I was offered the job at Moffitt I also had an offer from where I did my final preceptorship. The later was a Magnet facility, highly ranked, very nice. But I couldn't get Moffitt out of my head. I knew that is where I belonged. Nurse to patient ratios are better than any hospital in the area, giving you more time to answer questions for a patient who is going through this scary journey. I find that so important. Just this week I had an out of state patient who had so many questions about her care. She had just received a huge life shocking diagnosis and hightailed it to Moffitt because she had heard how amazing it was. She said, it didn't disappoint. I got to spend almost an hour with her, doing my best to answer her middle of the night questions stemming from fear of the unknown. That is the beauty of it, being able to have a facility that is so dedicated to patient satisfaction, family centered care, and education, it's incredible. Being on both ends from family member to staff, it truly is a one of a kind place. 

I cannot express how lucky I was to have worked at such an amazing hospital for the first portion of my career. I hope one day to be able to come back or give back because being apart of such an amazing place is really life changing. So with that I wanted to say thank you, to the amazing nurses, doctors, techs, secretaries, patients, family members, and instructors: it's been an honor to work with you. 

Today we finally arrived in NC, and as hard of a time it was this week saying goodbye to our Florida friends and family, I am looking forward to spending my time off exploring the Carolina's with Madi and  Nike. I will update as our journey continues! 

Thanks for keeping up,

- Olivia