Courtney Jensen, Registered Nurse at the Sidney Health Center Cancer Care recently passed the Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN®) Examination administered by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC). There are more than 30,000 Oncology Certified Nurses (OCN®). These registered nurses consist of staff nurses, clinicians, educators, and managers.

Courtney started working at Sidney Health Center in January 2021 as an infusion travel nurse before joining the team permanently as the oncology nurse navigator in January 2022. Prior to traveling, Courtney worked as an inpatient oncology nurse for three years.  

In addition, she serves on the Triple State Nursing Liaison Team through the Association of Community Cancer Centers Montana Society. As a member of this team, Courtney attends meetings throughout the tri-state area of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, which is expanding to include North and South Dakota. The meetings allow her to bring back groundbreaking information to her peers at the cancer center, help nurses network, participate in planning committee meetings and work to promote the Montana Society.

Since joining the Cancer Care team, Courtney has continued to gain knowledge in this specialized field of medicine stating, “Oncology nursing has been my passion since first starting nursing school and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Achieving this certification has been a long-time goal and will help me continue to provide the best education possible for our patients newly starting treatment and stay up to date on the latest advancements in treatments and care for our amazing patients.”

The OCN® Examination tests the knowledge necessary for the nurse to practice competently at the basic level, within the specialty of adult oncology nursing.

Oncology nursing certification is available to nurses who have:

• a current, active, unencumbered RN licensure
• a minimum of 24 months of experience as an RN within the four years prior to application
• a minimum of 2,000 hours of adult oncology nursing practice within the four years prior to application,
• and completed a minimum of 10 hours of continuing education in the specialty of oncology nursing or an academic elective in oncology nursing.

Certification for oncology nursing was introduced at the 1986 ONS Congress in Los Angeles, where 1,384 registered nurses passed the first examination. Since that time, more than 71,000 nurses have taken the examination. The OCN® Examination is offered at nearly 300 computer-based testing sites in North America.

Information about the OCN® Test is available at www.oncc.org.

The Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation develops, administers and evaluates programs for certification in oncology nursing. The mission of ONCC is to promote health and safety by validating competence and ensuring life-long learning in oncology nursing and related specialties.

Sidney Health Center’s Cancer Care team is comprised of full-time, board-certified medical and radiation oncologists, a nurse practitioner, medical physicist, nurses certified in chemotherapy administration, radiation therapists and administrative support staff who take time to understand and guide patients through their care plan. The team is rounded out with support from pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, surgery and rehabilitation services.

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