Doing What Comes Naturally in Oncology Nursing

By: Susanne Neenan, M.S.N., RN-BC

Some people are drawn to nursing by an experience or because they have a family filled with medical workers. For others, it just seems to come naturally, a calling that is deep within, as natural as the air they breathe.

For Belinda Kowal, RN, CMSRN, OCN, oncology was a natural fit.

Belinda has worked with oncology patients for more than 17 years. She loves what she does, she loves her patients and she loves supporting them and their families during the most difficult and fearful times of their lives. Belinda practices with ease; she never looks frazzled or hurried. She gives her patients her time, attention and love.

Working in the profession for more than 15 years myself, I feel it takes a very special person to work on an oncology unit. Belinda doesn’t see it that way. She doesn’t think she’s anyone special. She just knows she loves what she does.

The motto of Garnet Health Medical Center’s oncology unit is “Healing with Feeling,” and Belinda exemplifies this motto. She advocates for her patients, eases their pain, holds their hand, cheers them on and cries with them. She does whatever needs to be done.

Her knowledge and expertise make her a wonderful mentor to new staff and a great resource for her peers. She is always willing to lend a hand, and she is very well respected by the entire interdisciplinary team.

I am in awe of Belinda and how she does not see herself as anyone special, and I would be honored and comforted to have her care for my loved one or me. She is an extraordinary human and nurse, but to her, she is just doing what comes naturally.

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