Behind Every Great Oncologist is a Great Oncology Nurse

Memorial Sloan Kettering nurses play an indispensable role in ensuring patients receive the best possible care. The tradition of honoring distinguished nurses continued earlier this month during National Nurses Week with MSK Basking Ridge nurse and local resident, Caroline Clark, taking the Excellence in Nursing Practice Award during the 23rd annual Samuel and May Rudin Nursing Awards celebration.

“Caroline is an exceptional clinician who embodies oncology nursing at its best,” said Michele Kranz, MSK Basking Ridge Nurse leader. “She is highly skilled, compassionate, a critical thinker, collaborator, and peer leader. She displays the highest ideals of ethical care, is avidly inquisitive, and an extraordinary patient advocate.”

In a moment of reflection, Caroline distinctly remembers dressing as Clara Barton (the pioneering nurse who founded the American Red Cross in 1881) for History Day in elementary school. She borrowed her grandmother's "nursing cape" for her costume and took on the identity of a nurse for the first time. In college, Caroline majored in biology.

"I knew I wanted to do something in science but thought I might want to be a marine biologist," she remembers. That idea faded quickly when she realized she preferred people to fish and had a tendency toward seasickness.

Today, Caroline calls MSK Basking Ridge home. Here, she cares for patients who are receiving chemotherapy. Caroline joined MSK 14 years ago as an inpatient nurse working in New York City but later transferred to MSK Basking Ridge, which opened its doors in 2006. MSK was her first job after nursing school.

"The nurses at MSK are amazing," she says. "Every time I'd move to a new department, I'd say, 'Wow, these nurses are excellent.' And then I'd move to another department and I'd say, 'These nurses are excellent too!' It's the same everywhere here."

“While the Rudin Awards recognize individuals for their extraordinary achievement and service, the awards event and Nurse’s Week celebrate all MSK nurses for what they do for patients and their families,” said Ms. Kranz. “This is one of the most challenging professions, but also the most rewarding. MSK nurses represent the best we have to offer as human beings — compassion, integrity, stewardship, leadership, and excellence.”

Working directly with patients is Caroline’s greatest joy.

"It is such a privilege to be allowed into a person's life during this vulnerable time when they're coping with cancer," Caroline says. "Being able to provide resources to our patients, being able to comfort them, and explain what's happening and why – it's really an honor."