ONS Career Guide ONS CAREER GUIDE 2018.web | Page 10
Awards, Grants, and Scholarships
Are Available Through the ONS Foundation
O
ncology nurses can use various types of
awards, grants, and scholarships to ad-
vance their careers. Through the ONS
Foundation, ONS’s charitable arm, nurses
have many options. Linda Worrall, RN, MSN,
executive director of the ONS Foundation,
presented an overview of the awards, grants,
and scholarships that the Foundation has
available for oncology nurses.
Academic Opportunities
The ONS Foundation provides academic
scholarships, career development awards, re-
search funding, and project funding, Worrall
said. When it comes to academic scholarships,
funding opportunities are available for med-
ical professionals working toward a bachelor
of science in nursing (BSN), a master of
science in nursing (MSN), a doctor of nursing
practice degree (DNP), or doctoral (PhD) or
doctor of nursing science (DNSc) degrees.
Each degree receives a different range
in funding, and “we do evaluate that dollar
amount annually,” Worrall said. She warned that
although you can only receive one scholarship
per academic level, you can receive scholarship
money in each of the four academic levels.
The BSN academic scholarships (award-
ed at $3,000–$5,000), which Worrall noted
has the highest volume of applicants, has
three levels of criteria:
• Individuals in school who are not cur-
rently nurses
• Individuals with a college degree in
another field
• Individuals with a current RN license
(diploma or associates degree)
The MSN academic scholarships ($5,000)
have two levels available:
• Individuals with a current RN license
• Individuals with a bachelors in another field
The DNP and PhD/DNSc scholarship
opportunities are awarded at $5,000–$7,500
at a single level.
Other Options for Awards and Funding
Academic scholarships are not the only
options for oncology nurses; the ONS
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ONS 2018–2019 CAREER GUIDE
Foundation provides career development
awards, research funding, project funding,
and ONS chapter funding.
Nurses seeking continuing nursing ed-
ucation credits can apply for the following
career development awards:
• ONS Past Presidents’ Leadership Devel-
opment Scholarship: $1,200
• ONS Congress Scholarship: $1,200
• Bone Marrow Transplant Education: $1,200
Nurses seeking research funding have the
following options:
• Dissertation grants: $5,000
• Career development: $20,000
• Research grants: $25,000+
The ONS Foundation has $5,000 available
for cancer public education projects, and
ONS chapter funding provides a Leadership
Weekend scholarship and Breast Cancer
Community Center scholarship, each pro-
viding $1,500.
Worrall suggested that when applying
for academic scholarships, it might be best
to wait a bit before official submission and
submit closer to the application deadline.
“Don’t submit too early,” she said. “A lot
can happen in those four to six months.” If
you completed a new academic project after
you already submitted your application, you’ll
have to create a new application to make sure
that the new information is included.
Worrall also added, “Make sure that
if you say you’ve done the research, that
you’ve really done the research.”
Although the ONS Foundation already
provides numerous grants and scholarships
for nurses, Worrall said that open commu-
nication is important, especially if you are a
nurse just starting your career.
For assistance or questions, email Wor-
rall at [email protected]. n
Worrall, L. (2018). Advance your career through awards, Grants,
and Scholarships. Session presented at the ONS 43rd Annual
Congress, Washington, DC, May 17, 2018. Retrieved from https://
ons.confex.com/ons/2018/meetingapp.cgi/Session/1608
Application Tips and Tricks
The ONS Foundation uses GrantMaker, which
helps nurses apply for grants and scholarships
through a step by step process. By creating a
GrantMaker ID and logging in to create an
application, the program “will tell you if you’ve
submitted the grant or not,” Worrall said. “This
is where people can get confused.”
“If your grant doesn’t say ‘submitted,’ it
is not submitted,” she added.
The program can also be used to save your
application continuously, so you don’t have to
start over if you are not ready to submit.
Once the application is submitted
through GrantMaker, it undergoes staff and
review team analysis using a set scoring
tool. The team will then lead a final review
and provide its recommendations to the
ONS Foundation Board of Trustees.
GrantMaker can make the grant applica-
tion process much easier, but Worrall stressed
that the ONS Foundation is available to go
through all components of eligibility as well.
“Have a question? Give us a call,” she said.
“We want to make sure we are giving the
money to people who will make an impact.”
Quick Tips for ONS
Foundation Awards
Don’t forget these helpful tips when applying
for ONS Foundation awards, which include the
following:
• Review eligibility criteria to ensure you meet
the requirements before you apply.
• When an application question has more than one
part, be sure to provide an answer to each part.
• Ask a trusted colleague to review any essays
to ensure you have answered the questions
and that you were clear in your response.
• Don’t forget to review your application (watch for
typos), save often, validate, and submit prior to
the deadline.
• When in doubt, contact the ONS Foundation.