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Hello everyone,
First off, I hope you are all staying safe and we will fight through this pandemic that has taken over our daily lives.
I am a new grad RN from Toronto, Canada... I'm planning on moving to Houston, TX soon since my husband is American and we plan on moving there due to his job...
I have 4 years experience as an RPN in the gynecology and orthopedic field. My recent placements have all been in medical-surgical fields, or general medicine (around 700 hours total), where a vast majority of my patients had multiple co-morbidities, including varies types of cancers, oncology patients, etc. I have ALWAYS wanted to do oncology nursing (in an infusion clinic, chemotherapy nurse, etc), however the opportunities have never really come up for me to work in this field...
I would love get into this aspect of nursing and would love some guidance please. I would like to take an oncology course and do the OCN.... my question is: would I be able to do the OCN with just my clinical placement experience, and clinical experience I will be having during my oncology courses? (I'm planning on doing it in Mohawk College).. Does anyone have a better program to do oncology courses with more clinical hours that they have completed in Ontario? On the OCN website, it does say:
A minimum of 2,000 hours of adult oncology nursing practice within the four years (48 months) prior to application. Nursing practice may be in clinical practice, nursing administration, education, research or consultation. To qualify as nursing practice, the role must require it be filled only by a Registered Nurse.
Would me working as an RN in a different field also be counted towards this? I really would love to specialize and work in this area, and hoping that I can recieve some positive feedback, and stories that you all have to share.
Thank you!
D