Episode 430: Leadership Unlocked: Is It Your Time to Serve?

"If you are considering board service, I would say take the leap. Start with your local chapter. It will give you some valuable skills that will help prepare you when you are applying for your national level. And I always say, if you want to do it, just do it because what's the worst that can happen? They can say no, but that doesn't mean that you will never serve on a board. I always tell people delayed is not denied," Cassandra Green, DNP, RN, OCN®, ONS member and past president of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) Board of Directors, told Evelyn Wempe, DNP, MBA, APRN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP®, CRN, NEA-BC, chair of the ONS Leadership Succession Committee (formerly known as the Leadership Development Committee), during a conversation about service on a board of directors. Wempe spoke with Green and ONS members Kristin Ferguson, DNP, MBA, RN, OCN®, CGNC, former treasurer and director-at-large on the ONS Board of Directors, and Yanka Campbell, DNP, RN, CPHQ, AGPCNP-BC, CNE, member of the Oncology Nursing Foundation (ONF) Board of Directors, about their experiences with board service.

Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by August 28, 2027. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to serving on a board of directors for a professional organization.

Episode Notes

Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Meet the ONS Board of Directors series Episode 342: What It's Like to Serve on the Leadership Development Committee ONS Voice articles: Could Today Be the Start of Your ONS Leadership Journey? Nursing Leadership Unlocked Leading With Purpose Creates a Vision for the Future of Oncology Nursing ONS courses: A Guide to Chapter Leadership: Chapter President Training Board Leadership: Nurses in Governance Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Rearview Mirror Leadership: Looking Backward to Move Forward ONS Board Self-Assessment ONS Leadership ONCC Board of Directors ONF Leadership Your Roadmap to Future Service on the ONS Board of Directors ONS Leadership Learning Library To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.

Highlights From This Episode

Campbell: "Joining a board was a natural next step for me to maintain my connection to bedside nursing that I've loved for so many years, and to find a way to give back to advanced practice nurses as well in this role. The Oncology Nursing Society and Foundation were especially meaningful for me because I knew firsthand the importance of having scholarship, research, funding, and leadership development programs that can really change the trajectory of a nurse's career. I realized I wanted to help shape the opportunities that were available to me for future nurses, and I just did not want to continue to do that through one-on-one mentorships, which I have done extensively throughout my career, but find a way to help more broadly toward guiding organizational mission and strategic objectives." TS 7:20

Green: "Everyone was so welcoming on the board. Everyone was so friendly. One of the first things I remember our executive director Tony Ellis telling me is, 'Most of our new board members are really quiet and reserved at our first meeting. They just kind of keep t