The Master's Degree With a Specialty in Advanced Practice Oncology Nursing (4th Edition)

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Foreword

The education of oncology advanced practice nurses (APNs) has been a focus of debate and controversy for many years. In 1994, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) coordinated the State of the Science Conference on Advanced Practice Nursing in order to explore the issues facing oncology APNs, including concerns over the educational process, and provide global recommendations (Belcher & Shurpin, 1995). In 2000, the ONS Survey Project Team was formed by the ONS Steering Council to conduct a survey of critical issues perceived by oncology APNs. The APN Survey Project Team evaluated the survey results in the context of the recommendations made at the 1994 State of the Science Conference and determined that the major issues in oncology nursing had not changed significantly (Lynch, Cope, & Murphy-Ende, 2001).

In 1994, Redding wrote that the National League for Nursing and the Division of Nursing of the Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, had agreed that by 2010, the roles of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and nurse practitioner (NP) would be merged. In 2003, APNs continue to be educated in separate CNS and NP roles, with a few graduate programs offering a blended role option. Some organizations and institutions, including the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), have adopted the term APN to include any and all of the roles listed, and many continue to use the role-specific terms CNS, NP, nurse anesthetist, and nurse midwife (AACN, 1994; ANA, 1996; NCSBN, 1993).

This publication is the fourth edition of the guide that was first published in 1979 as the Master's Degree With a Specialty in Cancer Nursing: Curriculum Guide and Role Definition by the American Cancer Society (ACS). The second edition, The Master's Degree With a Specialty in Oncology Nursing, was published in 1986 and was the result of a joint effort by ONS and ACS. The third edition, The Master's Degree With a Specialty in Advanced Practice Oncology Nursing, was published in 1994 through the joint efforts of ONS and ACS, and the 2001 ONS APN Standards Project Team revised the fourth edition by the same name for publication in 2003.