Career path in oncology nursing

[GopherJ79]

I would be interested in hearing from other nurses in oncology what kind of career paths there are in oncology. I would like to get a staff nurse position on an oncology unit, but long-term, I'm not sure where I can go from there. I've tried searching the internet for some ideas, but not really finding much information.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

In my experience, unless you want to move to management, there isn't a lot.

Some hospitals have a clinical ladder that you can climb. Often times, it involves doing research, precepting, achieving certain levels of expertise and performance, etc. While this is all nice and good, if you plan to be a floor nurse forever, you'll max this out well before you see retirement.

Nursing is a world apart. Unfortunately, advancement in our field still largely equates to moving up the managerial/political ladder, clinical excellence and all the importance therein be damned.

[db2xs]

I would think it would be like many others specialty: you can become an advanced practice nurse practitioner, you can go into management, you can get into research, education ... there really are many choices. You won't be able to become a physician unless you go back to school.