The Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) has a variety of certification programs for eligible oncology nurses. All applicants need some level of experience as an oncology nurse and must also pass a certification exam to get certified.
Before taking the exam, an applicant must be licensed as a registered nurse. Although applicants need not have a job at the time of application, they do need at least one year of experience as an RN in the last three years. 1000 hours of nursing work must be in the field of oncology nursing. That specific work must have been performed in the last 30 months. Both of these time requirements (one year in three for any RN work and 1000 hours in 2.5 years in adult oncology nursing) must be met, not just one or the other.
The last general requirement is that an oncology nurse seeking certification from the ONCC must have 10 hours of continuing education related to oncology nursing in the past 3 years. An academic elective course may also qualify under this rule, and half of the 10 hours may be continuing medical education in oncology.
Notes on Other ONCC Oncology Nurse Certification Programs:
The requirements listed here are for the basic Oncology Certified Nurse certification. The other certifications generally have additional requirements. They include the Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse, Certified Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurse, Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse, Oncology Nurse Practitioner, Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Certified Breast Care Nurse.
The Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse and Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse ONCC certifications are essentially being phased out, but existing oncology nurses certified in those categories can renew their certifications, as of August 2011.
For information on how to apply for these other advanced or specialty oncology programs and exam, use the “Certifications Available” page on the ONCC website (see link below).
ONCC provides a list of exam references plus supplemental references. Although not totally clear, it appears that the organization is stating on that page that the main oncology textbooks listed there (above the supplemental references) are used to make the exam. On the other hand, it also says the list is not meant to be all inclusive.
One thing you can do is purchase the main oncology references on the list and then use the oncology nursing exam content outline to see if the main textbooks cover all the topics on the exam. If they cover most or all, then you may not need to purchase the supplemental oncology reference materials. You can access both the exam reference list and content outline in the Resources section below.
Resources:
ONCC: Certifications Available
ONCC: Exam References
ONCC: Oncology Nurse Certification Exam Content Outline
ONCC: Accredited Providers of Oncology Nursing Continuing Education