The end of a year—and this year, of a decade—serves as an opportunity to gather with family and friends and share memories and appreciation for things that happened in our lives.
When I reflect on the past year, I am so proud and appreciative of how our volunteer leaders and staff collaborate to ensure our continued commitment to excellence in oncology nursing and quality cancer care. The resources ONS provides result from the expertise and contributions of so many.
At the beginning of the year, we declared 2019 as a strategic plan bridge year with priority objectives while we undertook a future scenario planning for oncology nursing in 2029. You will hear much more about the initiative’s outcomes in the coming months and how they will shape our priorities in the years ahead. A think tank gave us a three-year plan launching in 2020 that builds sustainable resources for leadership development. Podcasts have become a weekly education feature, and you have increasingly listened to them. New research priorities were developed and strategies to support nurse scientists identified. New books, new courses, advocacy nationally and locally, and so much more happened during the past year; I am grateful for what ONS has accomplished and hope you are as well.
We are also seeing the end of a decade of progress. When I think back 10 years ago, patient navigation was just beginning and the oncology nurse navigator role was in its infancy. Today, many organizations have navigation programs and the numbers of navigators, lay and clinical, have increased greatly. Value-based care and quality-based reimbursement were just evolving, and the Oncology Care Model (OCM) did not exist. Today, we see the critical role nurses have in meeting OCM criteria. Immuno-oncology joined surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy on treatment plans for many cancers. The tsunami of oral agents happened late in the decade and shows no sign of slowing, given the pipeline of drugs in development.
It has been quite a year and quite a decade. As we think toward 2020, I hope that you continue to look to ONS as your professional home.