UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 23

The Journey
McArdle began her nursing career in 1986 at
the UAB oncology inpatient unit. From there,
she worked in outpatient care on the hematology
oncology unit in The Kirklin Clinic of UAB
Hospital, as a nurse researcher in breast cancer
at the School of Nursing, then went into nurse
recruitment, briefly stepping out of the realm of
oncology. Then, it all changed when McArdle
ran into Mansoor Saleh M.D., director of the
UAB Phase I Clinical Trials Program. McArdle
is now a nurse research manager for the Phase
I Program. “I wear many, many hats in my
position,” McArdle says with a laugh. “Working
with Phase I has been nothing short of a blessing
to me, and I am so happy that I ended up here
with such a rewarding job.”
Working as a Team
The Phase I Clinical Trial Program at UAB
provides patients who have no conventional
cancer therapy options left, and are willing to try
first-in-human clinical trials as options in their
continuum of care. Now entering its third year,
the Phase I Program is fairly new to UAB but is
already showing some promising outcomes.
“Many of our patients are doing better now
with the use of targeted therapies, that is using
drugs to more precisely identify and attack cancer
cells. When they do well, it really keeps the
positivity in the unit.” McArdle is hopeful that
the Phase I Program will continue to enhance the
treatment options that doctors and nurses can use
in caring for patients. “The most exciting thing
to me about Phase I is being able to offer the
cutting-edge research to patients who sometimes
have no other option. These patients come to us
looking for what we call ‘a drug called hope,’”
says McArdle.
McArdle and the Phase 1 clinical team spend
a lot of time with their patients monitoring side
effects and addressing symptoms. McArdle
explains that these patients are often seen a few
times a week, giving herself and the clinical team
a chance to form great relationships with their
patients. “We all work as a team, we are dedicated
and compassionate, and we strive to have the
highest integrity and provide the best possible
support to our patients,” she says. McArdle
hopes to provide every patient with something
to help them when they are going through their
hardest days.
Experienced Advice
To McArdle, her job is much more than just
caring for patients. “Your heart must be in it
because there will be good days and bad days.”
Even if she plans to finish out her career in
oncology, McArdle explains that in her position
she is constantly educating herself, studying and
reading, as there is always something to learn.
“Nursing is a very difficult profession, physically,
mentally, and spiritually, but it is extremely
rewarding,” she says. “Every day
there is something new that I need to know
everything about — such as a first-in-human
drug, but at the end of the day, if I can do one
thing to help these patients, it makes all of the
hard days well worth it.”
# K N O W U A B C C C
•
“Every day there
is something new
that I need to
know everything
about—such as
a first-in-human
drug, but at the
end of the day,
if I can do one
thing to help
these patients, it
makes all of the
hard days well
worth it.”
U A B . E D U / C A N C E R
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