Wannabe an Onc Infusion RN

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Specializes in CCU, OR.

I've been a nurse for a looooong itme, mostly in the OR. The obvious problem here is that I got out of nursing school at a time when there was very little Chemo meds around, etc. After 20 some years, things have obviously changed a lot!

I joined ONS, in the hopes of taking some online CEU's, trying to get some education and possibly attend the Chemo/Biotherapeutics class under my belt to show the managers, etc that I am very interested, motivated to learn, etc.

Problem is that the listings(which 8 months ago were looking for RN, period) are now reading "Must have two years oncology experience, ONC and Chemo/Bio therapy, etc, etc". The question is, of course, how does one get oncology experience without having access to that experience? Based on the ONS calendar of classes, I just missed some pretty good classes and the last Chemo/BT class that's close to me for the rest of the year. So, I'm looking for other places to find some education-and I hadn't realized how complex Cancer Treatment had become(I've seen the cancers, helped remove them, asked as many questions as I can think of, but that's not the same thing)...

All help happily accepted. Thanks very much for reading this.

Can anyone out there advise in regards to classes offered by ONS and any other website, that can get me some amount of education under my belt so that when I do apply for the job, I have some amount of credibility? All answers greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Holistic and Aesthetic Medicine.

I just joined ONS as well and am thinking of doing a review course for the certification. The review course didn't have a 2 year experience requirement I don't think.

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Many oncology practices accept nurses who are committed to becoming certified within a year or two. This works very well, because you learn so much about the meds effects/side effects and it takes a while to assimilate it all.

Since you are interested in oncology, go to the local ONS meeting. This is a great place to learn more about oncology nursing. Use this link to find a local chapter:

http://onsopcontent.ons.org/Interactive/VirtualCommunity/ChapterMap.asp

Best Wishes,

Denise

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