On the Road Less Traveled: Journey of an Oncology Palliative Care Researcher

Oncol Nurs Forum. 2017 Jan 1;44(1):87-95. doi: 10.1188/17.ONF.87-95.

Abstract

In 2001, as the Trish Greene Quality of Life lecturer, I described coming to a career crossroads and cited a metaphor from Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken," realizing that, as I chose to leave the path of bone marrow transplantation clinician and go to that of palliative care nurse, there was no turning back. In this article based on my 2016 Oncology Nursing Society Congress Distinguished Nurse Researcher Award lecture, I would like to continue the Frost metaphor as I describe what has transpired since taking "the one less traveled by"-that of palliative care nurse scientist.

Keywords: Project ENABLE; end of life; nursing research; palliative care; supportive care.

Publication types

  • Personal Narrative

MeSH terms

  • Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing*
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Oncology Nursing*
  • Palliative Care / psychology*
  • Research Personnel / psychology*
  • United States