Are you an oncology nurse? We want to better understand your perspectives on factors that influence your decisions to pursuing – or not pursing – a Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) specialty nursing oncology CON(C) certification. The insight gathered will shape the rollout and evaluation of an organizational strategy to increase the number of specialized oncology nurses at BC Cancer.
We are actively recruiting nurses to participate in this multiphase study: (1) 10-15 minute online survey and (2) a 60-90 minute focus group (either virtual or in-person if possible). If you are a registered nurse or nurse practitioner working at BC Cancer in a full-time, part-time, or casual position, – we welcome you to participate! Please note that it is not required for you to partake in both phases of the study in order to participate.
For the online survey phase, we are inviting you to complete this brief survey via Qualtrics: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1HAf0tPeuNAaHOK
This survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes and will be open until July 28th, 2023. Your participation and all responses will be confidential. By completing this survey, you will help us formulate organizational strategies to support and enhance the uptake of certification amongst oncology nurses.
Survey participants will have the option to enter a draw to win 1 of 5 $68 Figs Scrubs electronic gift cards (e-gift cards). If you choose to withdraw from completing the survey, you will still have a chance to enter the e-gift card draw. Your chances of winning 1 of the 5 e-gift cards is dependent on the number of participants who access the survey.
If you are interested in participating in the focus group phase of this study, please contact, the Co-Investigator, Jagbir Kaur at jagbir.kaur@bccancer.bc.ca
Study Background & Rationale:
Specialty nursing certification has been shown to positively impact patient outcomes, nursing outcomes, and systems-level outcomes. In oncology, specialty nursing certification has been positively associated with improved cancer-related symptom management1, improved patient satisfaction1-3, increased job satisfaction4, and an improved sense of empowerment4. For nearly two decades, researchers have been studying the perceived value of specialty nursing certification, as well as the perceived barriers to achieving certification using validated survey instruments like the Perceived Value of Certification Tool (PVCT®)5-12. However, despite this body of literature, there is a gap in empirical evidence about the perceived value and barriers to achieving specialty nursing certification in oncology from the perspective of nurses working in the Canadian cancer care system.
The Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) offers the only nationally-accredited specialty nursing certification in oncology (i.e. the CON(C) designation) in Canada13. The Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO/ACIO) recommends that oncology nurses achieve CON(C) certification by their fifth year of practice14. While a small number of organizations (e.g. Cancer Care Ontario) have embedded the attainment of CON(C) certification in their organizational practice standards15, the uptake of CON(C) certification at BC Cancer—the comprehensive cancer control program for the province of British Columbia—has not yet been codified into organizational nursing policies.
Aim and research questions:
In recognition of the patient-, nurse-, and systems-level benefits that are associated with specialty nursing certification, BC Cancer has made an explicit commitment to increasing the prevalence of CON(C)-certified nurses across the organization.
The purpose of this study is to generate contextual evidence about the personal, social, and structural factors that influence BC Cancer nurses to pursue—or not to pursue—specialty certification in oncology nursing. The findings from this mixed-methods study will be used to guide the development, implementation, and evaluation of an organizational strategy to increase the prevalence of CON(C)-certified nurses at BC Cancer.
Methods:
This exploratory sequential mixed-methods study is guided by the analytic direction of interpretive description (ID), which is a methodology designed to generate evidence that addresses problems encountered by nurses and other health professionals in their practice settings16. The quantitative phase and the qualitative phase are summarized below:
Phase 1: Survey
We will administer an online survey which includes (1) the Perceived Value of Certification Tool (PVCT-12®) survey instrument, (2) demographic questions, and (3) investigator developed and adapted questions.
Phase 2: Focus Groups
We will conduct a series of focus group interviews with BC Cancer nurses. The same demographic questions from phase 1 will also be sent to participants via REDCap prior to their scheduled focus group. Focus groups will have five to six participants, a facilitator, and a note-taker. Data collected in focus groups differ from that gathered in interviews as the attention is on the interaction between the participants (Hansen, 2006). Focus groups will be crucial to identify and discuss interactional factors, which include attitudes, believes and expectations at the unit level, which include colleagues and managers. Quantitative findings from Phase 1 will help to ground the conversation during the focus groups.
Study Team
Footnotes
- Coleman EA, Coon SK, Lockhart K, Kennedy RL, Montgomery R, Copeland N, et al. Effect of certification in oncology nursing on nursing-sensitive outcomes. The Journal of nursing administration. 2010;40(10 Suppl):S35.
- Miller PA, Boyle DK. Nursing specialty certification: A measure of expertise. Nursing management. 2008;39(10):10–6.
- Stucky CH, Wymer JA. Progressing toward specialty certification as the National Standard for Nursing. Nursing forum (Hillsdale) 2020 Jul;55(3):531-534.
- Rashleigh L, Cordon C, Wong J. Creating opportunities to support oncology nursing practice: surviving and thriving. Canadian oncology nursing journal. 2011;21(1):7–15.
- Gaberson KB, Schroeter K, Killen AR, Valentine WA. The perceived value of certification by certified perioperative nurses. Nursing outlook 2003;51(6):272-276.
- Walter SM, McNair ND, Banat R, Anderson T, Dai Z, Wang K. Results From the Perceived Value of Certification Tool-12 Survey: Analysis of the Perceived Value of Certification Among Stroke and Neuroscience Nurses. J Neurosci Nurs 2022 -10-01;54(5):208-214.
- Brown CG, Murphy CM, Norton V, Baldwin PD, Ponto J. The value of oncology nursing certification. Clinical journal of oncology nursing 2010 Dec;14(6):E63-E69.
- Garrison E, Schulz C, Nelson C, Lindquist C. Specialty certification: Nursesʼ perceived value and barriers. Nursing management 2018 May;49(5):42-47.
- Niebuhr B, Biel M. The value of specialty nursing certification. Nursing outlook 2007;55(4):176-181.
- Ward RC, Krogh MA, Kremer MJ, Muckle TJ, Schoeny ME. The Perceived Value of Certification in Nonsurgical Pain Management. AANA journal 2019 Feb;87(1):29-36.
- Van Wicklin SA, Maio S. The Perceived Value of Certification of Plastic and Aesthetic Nurses. Plastic surgical nursing. 2021;41(1):6–17.
- Dierkes AM, Schlak AE, French R, McHugh MD, Aiken L. Why Some Nurses Obtain Specialty Certification and Others Do Not. The Journal of nursing administration 2021 May 1,;51(5):249-256.
- Canadian Nurses Association. CNA Certification Program [Internet]. Certification - Canadian Nurses Association. [cited 2023Feb7]. Available from: https://www.cna-aiic.ca/en/certification
- Rashleigh L, Zywine C, Moura S. CANO/ ACIO position statement on Cancer Chemotherapy administration and ... [Internet]. Canadian Association Of Nurses in Oncology. 2015 [cited 2022Dec14]. Available from: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cano-acio.ca/resource/resmgr/position_statements/revCANO-Position-statement-S.pdf
- Cancer Care Ontario. Position Statements for Nursing Practice in Cancer Care - Oncology Nursing Program [Internet]. Cancer Care Ontario. 2021 [cited 2023Mar13]. Available from: https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/guidelines-advice/types-of-cancer/53531
- Thorne S. Interpretive Description. Vol. 2. London: Routledge; 2016. 336 p.