Glenda Flynn, NP

Title(s)

Nurse Practitioner
Mass General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital

Department + Services

Oncology

Programs + Specialties

Oncology Nursing Society
Western Massachusetts Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society
WMONS Impact Newsletter Editor
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners

Training + Education

University of Massachusetts Graduate School of Nursing | Amherst MA
Baystate Medical Center School of Nursing | Springfield, MA
Smith College | Northampton, MA

Board Certifications

AANP Family Nurse Practitioner Certification
Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse Practitioner
Advanced Practice Nursing Registration
Massachusetts Nursing Registration

My Philosophy

Care Statement/ Philosophy

I was first exposed to cancer care in my early twenties when I accompanied my aunt to her cancer therapy appointments. She survived breast cancer but ultimately succumbed to metastatic endometrial cancer. Watching her fight, I recognized the importance of compassionate quality care and it has become my mission to be the kind of health care provider who could stand shoulder to shoulder with others entering that battle.

My career started on an inpatient oncology unit in the late 1980s, when there were only a handful of chemotherapy agents and most of them had to be administered in the hospital. Two years later I transferred to the outpatient clinic and worked as an infusion suite nurse for about 17 years. When people discover what I do for a living they often ask, “How do you do it? It must be so depressing,” to which I respond that it is not about who lives and who dies, it is about how you define success. If you define success only by counting those who survive, then being an oncology nurse could be depressing and hard. But if you define success as being able to make a difference in someone’s life, ease their suffering, guide them along, and maintain a sense of humor, than every person you meet is a success.

I have been an Advanced Oncology NP for 14 years and it is my goal to always provide high quality, effective, and compassionate care. Every person is important. Every person has a story to tell. This may color their cancer journey but cancer should never define them. My mother has survived breast cancer twice, yet, even now she does not define herself as a cancer survivor because she “never had to have chemotherapy." I can only hope that on my journey as a cancer care provider I can have but a small portion of her grace under fire.