"You're near the end, that's awesome," Rodway tells her after administering the day's needle, the 90th in a series of 100 prescribed injections. "You've been a trooper," she adds as Suzanne says, through tears, that her last chemo treatment is just days away.
"There are many times I've cried with a client," Rodway says later. "People are appreciative because you're helping them feel better."
Rodway, a mother of two young children, sees five or six patients a day in Whitby and Ajax. She says working 25 or 30 hours a week gives her a good balance of career, volunteer work and home life. "I get a lot of satisfaction."
For RPN Max Hamlyn, it's all about the personal touch.
"You've got the ability to spend time with the person and develop a closer bond," unlike hospitals where staff are too rushed, he says.
"It's more than just running in and changing a dressing. I'll ask, 'How are you doing, are you eating OK?' And I say, 'What's the most important thing I can do for you today?' "