how can you get oncology experience???

[andre]

Every onc job I see wants chemo experience and/or certification. How on earth am I supposed to get that? My hospital doesn't have an onc floor, and the opportunity to hang chemo on an inpatient on med/surg/tele comes along once in a blue moon....

The closest hospital with an onc floor is an hour away. The few jobs I've seen are 11p-7a, and I can't work nights--I can't sleep in the day,I know because I tried it as a new grad.

Sigh. I'm so frustrated I could cry. This has been my goal since I was a nursing student, and I just don't see how to make it happen.

[psalm, RN]

...well, if you can do the hour away job for a year so you can get the training and experience, that may be the only way right now. I am on a medical/oncology floor, where many of our pts are medical. The oncology classes are intense, 3 days, usually one day a week for 3 weeks. Then you are certified after you have hung chemo correctly 3 times. So you are looking at a committment to a job an hour away with classroom time as well.

Is this possible at all? If this is your dream, work it out. Working nights can be a challenge, but if you keep to a schedule on your days off, it can be done. AND if you can stick it out, you will get the experience you need for that onc clinic job you want.

Good luck and let us know what happens.