Running Head: PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY 1

The Emotional Aspect of Pediatric Oncology Nursing

Celina Lackey

University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1302

Professor Drapes

February 9, 2017
PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY 2

The Emotional Aspect of Pediatric Oncology

Cancer patients are often given a tough battle to fight. Unfortunately, there can

only be one winner: cancer or the patient. Watching a loved one fight cancer can hard to

handle, especially when its a child who is suffering. So many emotions are involved

throughout the journey. One moment the patient and their family have high hopes

because chemotherapy seems to be attacking the disease, then, in a blink of an eye, all

hope turns into desperation because the medicine isnt working anymore.

People often overlook that there are two perspectives from every patients cancer

story: a familys perspective and a nurses perspective. It is strongly suggested for

nurses not to become emotionally involved with their patients yet, thats not always the

case. Nurses are human and when dealing with children who are terminally ill, it can be

difficult not to get emotionally attached. It is important for people to appreciate the daily

duties pediatric oncology nurses have to do on a daily basis. The patient and their

families may suffer harder compared to nurses but death never gets easier for anyone.

One genre chosen to further look into the emotional aspect of pediatric oncology

is a journal from a Pediatric Oncology Nurse, Ali Alfaro age 27. This journal entry is a

very personal typography that describes what its like to deal with all of the emotions her

job makes her face endlessly. Although her job comes with a lot of emotional baggage,

she makes sure readers know that she loves her career.

Victoria Enmon was diagnosed with cancer at age 11 and died from leukemia at

age 15. Her documentary was given in as an iconography published in 2013. Victoria

was the inspiration behind the Extra Life Movement, a fundraiser for video-gamers to

raise money for children battling cancer in their local area. Her family shares her story in
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hopes to reach out to those families who have or are going through the same situation

as them.

The two perspectives strongly demonstrate the many emotions involved with

treating and supporting children fighting cancer.

Audience and Purpose

The intended audience for both of these genres target different discourse

communities. Both genres convey strong messages with their purpose to inform their

communities about the emotional impact that pediatric cancer patients have on both

parties, meaning the medical staff involved and the patients families.

In Ali Alfaros journal, What Its Really Like to Treat Kids Who Have Cancer, her

goal was to reach out to other nurses who deal with life or death situations on a daily

basis just like her. Nurses can be considered to have their own discourse community

because they set common goals that they all need to meet. There can be specialized

language used between nurses where they communicate to where they only understand

each other.

Throughout the journal, Alfaro constantly states that she does not know how to

express all the mixed emotions her career makes her feel. Alfaro says (2014), It has

taken me five years of being a pediatric oncology nurse to find a way to verbalize the

multitude of feelings inside of me. She assures her readers that she loves her job

however, there are situations that become complicated for her to deal with on an

emotional level. Families dealing with loved ones who are battling cancer can also be a

targeted audience with this journal so they are able to understand a nurses perspective.
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The story of Victoria Enmon reaches out to families who also know what its like

to see their child or family member battle cancer. The purpose of the video was to

inform the audience that although a cure for leukemia patients is 85%, there will still be

instances where children cannot overcome their illness. Another purpose of this video

was to persuade the targeted discourse community, any video-gamers to participate in

the Extra Life Movement to help raise money for children battling cancer in their local

community.

Rhetorical Issues

In order to express a resilient message, both genres used pathos in order to

establish their credibility with their intended audience. Both genres used different

approaches due to their type of genres. However, both resources were able to convey

their projected messages clearly.

Nurses are often expected to not get emotionally involved with their patients or

their families. However, Ali Alfaro describes keeping emotions outside her job is

practically impossible. She explains (2014), But you see, you cant really be a pediatric

oncology nurse without becoming attached; in a way you have to give a little bit of

yourself to your patients and their families in order to do your job the best way that you

can. She shares her past experiences in her article to bring out the emotional

perspective of being a pediatric oncology nurse. This can give readers a feeling of

sympathy for the author and for some readers (those who are nurses), can connect to

her on a personal level.

In the beginning of Victoria Enmons documentary, her family introduces

Victorias personality so that the audience is able to catch a sense of who she was as a
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person. Her family shared how her life was before she got diagnosed then transitioned

into the traumatic impact her diagnosis had on Victorias entire family. Throughout the

video, viewers are likely to grow a small attachment to Victoria and hope she defeated

her battle with leukemia only to feel devastated to find out her journey ended too soon.

This video uses the emotions brought out from Victorias story to persuade the audience

to participate in the Extra Life Movement in order to raise money for children battling

cancer just like Victoria.

Structure and Delivery

The structure of these two pieces are very different. Alfaros journal is a primary

resource while Victorias story is told from a secondary resource due to her death. The

structure both genres used play big roles as to how each of their messages were

delivered. Both structures from each resource kept the audience intrigued and

emotionally invested with each story.

Ali Alfaro expressed herself freely as she expands her thoughts as she goes

deeper into her journal. She uses a picture from the movie A Fault in Our Stars to

show how hard it can be to see first-hand children and their families trying to overcome

their illness on an everyday basis. Although her layout remained very simple, the author

used her past experiences to explain how certain patients have impacted her life and

changed the way she works for her patients. When one of her patients died when taken

into ICU, Alfaro was angered (2014), I didnt want to accept it, I didnt want to believe it,

I didnt want him to die. Readers are able to feel the compassion she has as a nurse

making the message she is trying to get across much more effective.
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The information given in Victorias story was organized in chronological order to

give the audience an understanding of who Victoria was as a person before she got

diagnosed with leukemia. This structure helps the message be delivered more

effectively using the emotions of Victorias death as a motivation to help fundraise

money through the Extra Life Movement to help prevent more stories like hers to

happen again.

Conclusion

Families and nurses might have completely different perspectives with the

situation at hand yet, the emotional effect is still the same. Alfaro expressed herself by

her personal experiences making her message stronger and her passion as a nurse

very clear. While on the other hand, Victoria Enmons family stays motivated and

determined to promote the Extra Life Movement to help prevent other families from

losing their child in the same that they did. Both genres achieved their goal through an

emotional level but, Ali Alfaro conveyed an efficient message by using her passion and

emotions to let readers know the truth behind dealing with children fighting cancer.
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References

Alfaro, A. (2014). What it's really like to treat kids who have cancer. Thought

Catalog. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://tcat.tc/1xQoa05

C. [CMN Hospitals] (2013, September 20). Victoria enmons story [Video File] Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHSZ_82wiJg