by Xypher Pino

The Collegian recently had the chance to interview softball player and senior health science major Kelsey Craven about her internship experience this spring at the Wesley Long Cancer Center.

Craven currently works as a nurse technician at the infusion department of the Wesley Long Cancer Center, and her internship is an extension of this work. She assists nurses and doctors in giving patients blood or iron transfusions, and she primarily works with chemotherapy patients where she is responsible for taking and recording patient vitals, assisting them with day to day living activities and preparing them for radiation therapy. She also spends a lot of time in outpatient services.

When asked what made her seek this internship and specifically work at the Wesley Long Cancer Center, Craven stated, “I want to become a nurse in the future, and maybe even a nurse practitioner. I feel like this internship was the perfect opportunity for me to explore this career and see if I truly belong in this field. The reason why I chose to work at Wesley Long is not only am I already a nurse technician here, making it a lot easier for me to get this opportunity, but also because I have a lot of passion towards cancer patients, especially because I have members of my family that are diagnosed with cancer. This internship opportunity fit me perfectly and meets everything that I want to do in the future.”

Craven has been an intern at Wesley Long since December 2023, and she has nothing but positive feedback about her experience. When asked what she has learned so far with her internship, she said, “This internship has helped me become much more knowledgeable about what cancer is but more importantly, what it is like for people to have this disease. Each patient processes cancer very differently and I have learned how to properly manage many different types of difficult conversations. For example, I have had some patients ask me tough questions like how long they have to live, and because of this experience, I am able to effectively answer and navigate those questions and not just give them a generic response or leave it to the nurse to deal with.”

When asked about her favorite part of her internship, Craven stated that she has loved working with the nurses, “Nurses have a very hard job, especially from an interpersonal standpoint with their patients, as these people are at the worst times of their life right now, but it is very fascinating to see the effort nurses go through to make a patient’s day a lot better. They try their hardest to make the patients as comfortable and welcome as possible. The way the nurses I have worked with interact with their patients really inspires me.”

On the other hand, in terms of the most difficult part of the internship, Craven remarked: “I was at my internship recently and one of the patients, unfortunately, received bad news about their diagnosis, and they were absolutely devastated and came out crying. It is very hard seeing situations like that – when the patient is not progressing like they should be and the disease just gets worse and worse.”

“Sometimes, with those situations, it can be hard to know what to say, but as I said before, my internship has really helped me manage those types of conversations. I have been exposed to situations like that more than I would have expected, and I have learned how to effectively give the patients hope and make a bad situation have a positive outlook.”

As a student athlete, Craven has had a lot on her plate this semester with school, being in season and doing this internship. When asked how she is able to balance all of these things at once without getting overwhelmed, she emphasized the importance of communication and effectively scheduling her days: “I am not going to lie, it is very difficult to do all of this at once. There would be some mornings where I would work for four hours then right after that, I would have to run out for practice or a game. Fortunately, both my work supervisor and coaches have been super accommodating and understanding of my situation. As long as I communicate with them, they always accommodate me and help me out.”

“In terms of how I schedule my days and weeks, I always make it a goal to save the nighttime for homework and studying. My weekdays are always busy with classes, softball and sometimes work, so ensuring that I have enough energy and time at night to study and complete all of my assignments is crucial.”

As mentioned previously, the process of receiving this internship for Craven was not difficult at all. She reached out to Caryn Atwater, Director of Career and Personal Development, for specifics about internship requirements such as hours needed and process of documentation, and after this was obtained, all she had to do was talk to her work and faculty supervisors and get approval for the internship. If you are interested in having your own internship but do not know where to start or you feel as though it will be difficult, do not worry as it is very simple and there will be lots of support throughout the entire process. Feel free to email Atwater at caryn.atwater@greensboro.edu for any questions or concerns you may have.

We hope that after reading this article, you are inspired and motivated to pursue experiential learning and further explore your career of interest!