ONCC Presents Second Employer Recognition Award
Friday, June 03, 2011
The Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) has selected Georgetown University Hospital, as a recipient of its 2011 Employer Recognition Award. Each year this award recognizes one organization that employs 25 or more registered nurses for their sustained support of oncology nursing certification. Representatives of the facility were presented with the award during the ONCC Recognition Breakfast for Oncology Certified Nurses on April 29, 2011, in Boston, MA.
Georgetown University Hospital (GUH) gives preference hiring certified nurses, and asks new nurses to commit to obtaining certification within two years. GUH pays for all certification examinations, preparation/review courses, and certification renewal. In 2008, GUH contracted with the Washington DC Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) to provide an on-site 2-day certification preparation course. They also offer a 64-hour Oncology Nurse Fellowship Program, based on the OCN® Test Blueprint. Fellowship participants agree to take the OCN® examination within one year of completing the fellowship. Certification is also incorporated into the annual Nursing Performance Evaluation, and provides an opportunity for a certified nurse to achieve a designation of Role Model or Key Contributor, with an associated salary bonus. Certification is required for advancement to Nurse Clinician III and IV designations, which include a $4,000 and $8,000 bonus respectively.
Each newly certified nurse is presented with a credential pin and celebration cake on their unit; each unit displays its ONCC Recognition Plaque; and announcements are made in all GUH publications. Nurses also are recognized on Certified Nurses Day and with an outing for certified nurses to a major league ballgame each August. Nurses who request educational assistance to attend the ONS conferences must be certified or commit to obtaining certification within one year. The Oncology Educator is recognized in performance evaluation for the percentage of certified nurses on units, and the GUH is committed to increasing the percentage of certified nurses by 1% annually. The percentage of ONCC certified nurses increased from 10% to nearly 75% in 5 years.
The Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC), an affiliated organization of ONS, administers and evaluates programs for certification in oncology nursing. Learn more about ONCC at www.oncc.org.
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