The Oncology Nursing Society is the professional organisation for nurses caring for people with cancer. It works alongside two connected bodies: a certification corporation that awards the credentials, and a foundation that funds research and scholarships.
What it publishes
Three publications carry the specialty's literature. The Oncology Nursing Forum is its research journal, the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing covers practice, and ONS Voice publishes news, advocacy and member writing.
Beyond the journals, its guidance on the safe handling and administration of chemotherapy and other hazardous drugs is the practical standard in American cancer care, used by employers writing policy and by regulators assessing it. Nurses who administer these drugs are exposed to them, which is why the handling standards are an occupational safety document as much as a clinical one.
Certification
The oncology nursing credentials are awarded by a separate certification corporation rather than by the society, covering general oncology nursing along with advanced practice, paediatric and specialised areas such as blood and marrow transplantation.
As with every nursing certification, these recognise expertise beyond licensure and do not extend legal scope. See nursing specialties and scope of practice.
Why the specialty is watched
Oncology nursing is where several themes on this wiki intersect. The drugs are hazardous to the nurse as well as the patient, the work is emotionally heavy in a way that shows up in burnout research, and much of the care has moved from inpatient wards to ambulatory infusion centres, part of the wider shift of nurses out of hospitals. The share of registered nurses working in hospitals fell from 57.5 percent to 53.3 percent in two years while ambulatory care grew. See the nursing shortage and nurse burnout.
Related
Sources
- About ONS. Oncology Nursing Society, for its publications and its relationship with the certification corporation and foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- ONS Voice. Oncology Nursing Society. Accessed September 9, 2026.
- 2024 National Nursing Workforce Survey. National Council of State Boards of Nursing and National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers, for the shift in practice settings. Accessed September 9, 2026.