Cancer Care That Feels Like Family

I have had the privilege of working alongside Amanda Albano for over a year now, and she only came to my unit to train for her hired role at the John Theurer Cancer Center Totowa location. By the grace of God, Totowa isn't up and running yet, and I have gotten to spend much more time with her than expected. I have been in awe of her tremendous heart towards her patients and colleagues alike. She truly treats every single one of her patients as if they were her family — like a daughter — and I have watched her jump through rings of fire time and time again to advocate for her patients.

Amanda doesn't utilize the help of the medical assistants for vital signs, which is what is expected of them in the clinic; she prefers to do it herself. I have witnessed her spend countless hours on the phone with the care team, family members and especially at the chairside with her patients giving them her undivided attention and love when they need it most.

I know that I am not putting enough into words to explain how much of an impact Amanda has had on every person that has come into this clinic, but I can whole heartedly say that she makes a huge difference. There is no limit to what she will do for her patients to receive the absolute best care and all of the things in between that they need to make days more tolerable. When the health care team is not agreeing with her requests to escalate patient's care, Amanda does not take no for an answer and exhausts all resources to ensure that they all get what they need to make them better.

Amanda is a true gift not only to the health care platform, but to the world. I am truly grateful for her and her heart. She is tremendously deserving of this award as there is no end to her compassion and her nursing skill alike! The world needs more oncology nurses like Amanda.

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