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COVID-19 Affects Cancer Caregivers, but Here Are Ways to Support Them

February 19, 2021

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In Case You Missed It: Here Are the Big ONS Changes in Recent Years

Keeping up with what ONS is doing can be a challenge, given the communication overload we all experience. With so much information in our lives, personally and professionally, announcements can slip by without our noting them. Periodically I hear comments or feedback from members about something that has not changed or that did change—several years ago. To help you stay on top of all that’s happening, here are some details that you may have missed.

Leadership Is the Foundational Competency for Oncology Nursing in 2029

In 2019, an ONS project team worked with Bridgeable, a service design consultant group, to prepare a 10-year view to guide our strategic priorities. As reported to ONS members, the project identified several possible futures of oncology nursing in 2029 and how ONS could ensure oncology nursing excellence and quality cancer care in all of those futures.

February 01, 2021

A New Year Offers Promise of Improvement

I don’t know how many times this year I’ve thought to myself or heard someone say, “When will 2020 be over?” The pandemic, social unrest, political polarization, and natural disasters have made 2020 a year in which many of us have wondered, “What else?”

December 07, 2020

Nurses Have the Purpose, Power, and Passion to Make a Difference

As we enter the final few months of 2020, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, I find myself thinking about the theme that we had for our 45th Annual ONS Congress^TM: Purpose, Power, Passion. WHO’s intent in designating the year was to elevate nursing globally and showcase the many roles that nurses have in health care. In the United States, Gallop surveys consistently rank nurses as the most trusted profession, but our colleagues in other countries do not have a similar means of recognition.

October 05, 2020

We Can’t Touch Each Other, But We Can Still Touch Lives

Since the COVID-19 coronavirus stay-at-home orders were issued in March 2020, the future has been difficult to imagine. National professional meetings, including ONS Congress, graduations, weddings, funerals, and other events that mark the transition from present to future were canceled. Creative, alternative ways to mark a transition to the future are highlighted on social media and the nightly news. Virtual, Zoom, and the new normal are standard verbiage in our conversations.

August 03, 2020

COVID-19 Challenges Showcase Stories of Nurses’ Strength

How We’re Growing Nursing’s Voice in the Health News Media

The Woodhull Study on Nurses and the Media: Health Care’s Invisible Partner showed that nurses were quoted in only 4% of health stories in the news media. In 2018, Mason and team published the Woodhull Study Revisited: Nurses’ Representation in Health News Media 20 Years Later. They found that after two decades, only 2% of health stories in the news media quoted nurses; although not statistically significant, the decrease is still a concern. The 1998 study identified that nurses were just starting to move into positions of authority in healthcare systems, a status that might make them more available for journalists. Yet in 2018, nurses occupied more healthcare leadership positions in diverse sectors but were still not being used as expert sources by journalists. Why?

February 13, 2020

Our Decade of Progress Continues in the Years Ahead

December 16, 2019

To Truly Innovate, We Must Move Beyond the Past

While looking for an image for a presentation, I came across this quote on a picture of a woman whose hands were more than full. It captured the message I was going to be giving. The world of health care, specifically cancer care, continues to evolve rapidly from an array of forces outside of our control. However, in that swirl of change, we have the opportunity to evaluate any resulting barriers or challenges to patient care and to design and implement solutions. To do this, to be creative, to innovate, to problem solve, we may have to let go of things with which we are comfortable but are not of benefit in today’s world.

October 29, 2019

Summer’s Dog Days Are Energizing, Not Lazy, for ONS and Its Volunteers

A few weeks in July and August are known as the dog days of summer—the days where the heat makes us feel particularly laid back and lazy. I have always thought that these hottest days of the year, when even dogs languished from the heat, gave us a chance to slow down and offered a break from the intensity of work or school. It was a time for families to enjoy relaxing vacations and children to make memories of new friendships and adventures. I decided to Google the meaning of dog days and lazy days. I found that the term lazy days was similar to my thinking, but dog days has a different meaning.

August 26, 2019

6 or 9? Why Persuasive Public Speaking Is Essential

Oncology nurse influence

We Are All Florence Nightingale

At first this seems like a bold statement, but think about it for a moment. What do we know about Florence Nightingale? She is credited as the founder of modern nursing and embodied nursing leadership and advocacy. She improved hygiene practices in hospitals, resulting in fewer infections and deaths. She pioneered statistical analysis on the conditions surrounding the provision of medical care, especially during the Crimean War, and used visual presentations (or early infographics). She created patient services, such as a kitchen that prepared special dietary meals for patients, a laundry to provide clean linens, and a library for patients’ intellectual stimulation.

2019 Will Be a Strategic Bridge Year as ONS Looks Ahead to a New Decade

Oncology nurses have seen many changes in the past decade with significant improvements in cancer treatment, better symptom management and palliative care, and enhanced care coordination. But much work needs to be done as we look toward the future.

January 07, 2019

Your Voice Shaped Oncology Nursing and Cancer Care in 2018

Before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I wanted to thank you, our ONS members, for advancing the voice and contributions of oncology nurses to critical issues in cancer care.

December 14, 2018

Specialty Nursing 30 Years Later: Details May Change, but the Heart of Nursing Remains

While awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Florence last month, I took the opportunity to purge the proverbial closets. One contained dozens of VHS tapes. I had no need to keep most of them, but one caught my attention. “Focus: Specialty Nursing” was produced by the National Nursing Network. The video referenced how changes in the healthcare system were resulting in increased nursing specialization and a growing number of specialty nursing organizations. Leaders of specialty nursing organizations who were attending the National Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations (NFSNO) annual meeting were interviewed. The tape is not dated, but I am guessing it was produced in the late 1980s because Deborah Mayer, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, FAAN, ONS president from 1987–1989, discussed oncology nursing.

October 01, 2018

Oncology Nursing’s Future—Preparing the Next ONS Strategic Plan

Each spring brings a flurry of annual meetings held by oncology organizations: Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and ONS’s. This year I attended all and was part of panel presentations at ACCC and AACR to bring the nursing perspective to the topics.

August 02, 2018

What ONS Does When the Question Can’t Be Answered Definitively

How frustrating it can be not to have enough evidence to answer a question definitively. That happens often in clinical practice, even as we build evidence for it. Expert opinion can help when the body of research does not. This spring, we have continued work in two areas in which answers are not definitive.

How ONS Is Advocating for Our Patients and Our Profession

A responsibility of the ONS president, Board members, and senior staff is to advocate for our patients and our profession. To say that 2017 was a busy year is an understatement. This column, whether written by the president or by me, often describes where ONS has been, who has represented the organization and you, and what our advocacy or education has been.

February 06, 2018

Nominating Colleagues for Nursing Awards Is a Professional Responsibility

At two national nursing events in October 2017, ONS members received prestigious awards. You may have seen the news about them in your ONS Voice weekly emails. They did not receive these awards without the work of colleagues who prepared their nominations.

December 12, 2017

National and Local Leaders All Play a Role in the ONS Enterprise

The annual ONS Leadership Weekend brings together the boards of ONS, ONS Foundation (ONSF), and the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC); the ONS Leadership Development Committee; the ONCC committee chairs; and leadership representatives from all of our chapters. Many national office staff join in the planning and activities too. The weekend is a valued, traditional investment in volunteer leaders at the local and national levels. In one session during this year’s meeting in July 2017, the questions that were asked indicated to me that understanding ONS and the roles and responsibilities of the various groups in the ONS enterprise could be helpful.

October 12, 2017

Becoming a Healthy You Contributes to a Healthy Nation

The American Nurses Association (ANA) launched a grand challenge this year: Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation. The premise is that we are the largest health professionals group but also rate poorly on health indicators. If we improve our health, we can be role models for our family, friends, patients, and community. ONS is supporting the ANA challenge, and I hope you have seen the weekly ONS tips that will help in this challenge.

August 10, 2017

Members Meet to Lead ONS Into the Future

As Oncology Nursing Month, May saw celebrations at the ONS 42nd Annual Congress and in our workplaces. Nurses on ONS staff enjoyed recognition and celebration of their commitment to our mission and you. They partner closely with members who volunteer their time and expertise in developing initiatives and priorities for ONS. I would like to describe a few of those initiatives and work groups that have met at the national office in the first six months of 2017.

No System Shall Endure Which Does Not March

Two years ago, I became ONS’s third chief executive officer and the staff partner to a Board of Directors that had a clear vision for a system that marches. If, as a member, you feel that ONS has undergone many changes in the past two years, you are correct.

October 04, 2016

Cancer healthcare advocacy

Nursing Is the Skeleton of the Healthcare System

As a faculty member, I always enjoyed graduation celebrations. Watching the future workforce receive their diplomas, from novice nurses to our next generation of nurse scientists, is an affirmation of the commitment and investment that faculty make to their students and the future of nursing.

August 02, 2016

Healthcare regulatory compliance

Our Work to Define the Elusive Optimal Staffing Levels

A question often posed to the ONS clinical inquiries inbox is what ONS recommends for staffing in inpatient cancer units or chemotherapy treatment centers. This question is asked by members, nonmembers, and non-nurse practice administrators. Our colleagues at the Association of Community Cancer Centers also see their members raise this topic, and it’s not unique to oncology nursing.

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To discuss the information in this article with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To report a content error, inaccuracy, or typo, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.

Brenda Nevidjon MSN, RN, FAAN

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