Piloting an integrated education pathway as a strategy to prepare for and encourage oncology specialty certification

Abstract

Although continuing nursing education is crucial to improve professional and patient outcomes, programs in oncology nursing remain scarce, piecemeal, and focused on one modality of treatment, which limits the effectiveness of education interventions. The objectives of this paper are to describe the development and implementation of a longitudinal specialized oncology nursing education pathway program, and the evaluation results of a year-long pilot of the first stage of the program at a large university-affiliated cancer centre. Preliminary findings indicated that participants’ perceived competence in health assessment and symptom management was improved after one year of enrolment in the education pathway. Next steps following this pilot, including implications for participants with regards to attaining oncology certification are also discussed.