Caregivers for patients with advanced cancer provide crucial support but often have unmet needs. During a session at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, J. Nick Dionne-Odom, PhD, RN, ACHPN, of University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Tara Albrecht, PhD, ACNP-BC, RN, of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine in Richmond, discussed new research in palliative care and the role of nurses in supporting patients and their families.

Early diagnosis and advancements in cancer treatment have markedly improved five-year cancer survival rates. By 2026, an anticipated 20.3 million cancer survivors will be living in the United States. On Saturday April 13, 2019, Kathleen Wiley, RN, MSN, AOCNS^®, discussed survivorship care and the challenges that nurses are perfectly positioned to address during a clinical chat at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Spinal cord compression (SCC)—an oncologic emergency—is the initial presentation in roughly 20%–33% of patients with a malignancy, Carol S. Viele RN, MS, OCN^®, of the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing, said during a session on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA. Nurses can play a key role in recognizing the condition and getting patients into early treatment that may help preserve their function, she said.

Radiopharmaceuticals, or radioactive drugs, are playing an increasing role in cancer diagnosis and treatment and thus are an increasingly relevant area of practice for oncology nurses, Paul Searfoss, BS, CNMT, ARRT (N, CT), of Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN, said during a session on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Navigating patients through radiation treatments can be challenging when they are undergoing concurrent therapy. Coordination of multiple providers across different specialties, side effect management, and scheduling can be overwhelming. During a session at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Dorothy Abshire, BSN, BA, RN, OCN^®, of Baylor Scott and White McClinton Cancer Center, Waco, TX, explained how oncology nurses can help patients navigate complicated treatment regimens that involve both chemotherapy and radiation therapies.

Nurses, who are frequently on the front lines of communication with patients at high risk for lung cancer, can play a critical role in increasing awareness of the relatively new option to screen for this deadly condition, Lisa Carter-Harris, PhD, APRN, ANP-C, FAAN, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, said in the Victoria Mock New Investigator Presentation on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Good documentation is the best defense a nurse can have in the event of a lawsuit. This was the take-home message of a presentation by Joann Wortham, MSN, JD, CPHQ, CPPS, CPHRM, of Beta Healthcare Group in Alamo, CA, a large provider of professional liability insurance for hospitals, and Cyndi Maag, RN, BA, LNCC, of Eckenrode-Maupin, a legal practice in St. Louis, MO, during a session on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Compassion fatigue and burnout are adding to the cost of healthcare by personally affecting the nursing workforce, and in turn, the patients they care for and the workplace milieu. In their session on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Sue Childress, MN, RN, OCN^®, of the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City, UT, and Pamela Bowman, MSN, RN, OCN^®, of Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC, discussed defining, identifying and reversing compassion fatigue and fostering resiliency in today’s nursing workforce.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy is an exciting but complex novel form of immunotherapy with multiple potential toxicities that nurses must be prepared to recognize and manage, Misty Lamprecht, MS, APRN-CNS, AOCN^®, BMTCN^®, of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James in Columbus said during a session on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA. Lamprecht’s copresenter was Yi Lin, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Rochester, MN.

Regardless of their own feelings or biases about cannabis, nurses must recognize that their patients are using it and help them to access the drug safely, Eloise Theisen, MSN, RN, AGPCNP-BC, of the Radicle Health Clinician Network in Walnut Creek, CA, said during a session on Saturday, April 13, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA. Many patients with cancer are using cannabis and are looking to their healthcare providers for information on how they can use it to reduce their symptoms, she said.

Two very different projects in which nurses developed creative solutions to common patient problems and helped to improve patients’ treatment experience were the focus of a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Fast, safe, and effective care is a goal in all oncology treatment settings. During a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Lisa Pittman, RN, MSN, MHA, NEA-BC, OCN^®, of Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Zion, IL, Kerry Fuller, RN, BSN, OCN^®, of Greenville Health System Cancer Institute in South Carolina, Cameron Carr, ADN, RN, of Duke Raleigh Hospital in North Carolina, and Lisa Ciafre, RN, MSN, of Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, shared their work on preventing infections, improving recovery after surgery, and reducing response times to hypersensitivity reactions.

Thanks to new treatments and technologies, the number of U.S. cancer survivors has increased to 16.9 million as of January 2019. During a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, several healthcare professionals presented new research to support the ever-growing population of cancer survivors.

Bothersome and distressing sexual dysfunction is common in both men and women living with cancer. Treatments can potentially alter a person’s sexual health in the physical, emotional, mental ,and social well-being realms of care. Literature has shown that time constraints and level of comfort with sexual health content are barriers to addressing patients’ sexual health concerns. On Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, speakers provided an overview of sexual health concerns and strategies to assure a positive and respectful approach to female and male patients with cancer who are experiencing them.

Oncology nurses must remain vigilant to protect patients and themselves from chemotherapy exposure. During a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Martha Polovich, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, of Georgia State University in Atlanta, and MiKaela Olsen, APRN-CNS, MS, AOCNS^®, FAAN, of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore, MD, instructed nurses on how to ensure safe handling of hazardous drugs (HDs) in their practice settings.

Using the best evidence to inform care leads to better patient outcomes and can prevent over- or underuse of healthcare resources. Clinical practice guidelines are an important tool for healthcare providers to ensure they are using informed care in their practice. On Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Pamela Ginex, EdD, RN, discussed ONS’s symptom management guidelines and a new initiative to develop and implement guidelines into clinical care.

Infusion reactions, hypersensitivity reactions, anaphylaxis, and tumor lysis syndrome are oncologic emergencies that are seen in both inpatient and ambulatory settings. Advanced practice RNs (APRNs) are often the first providers to respond to those emergencies. During a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Patricia Jakel, RN, MN, AOCN^®, of the University of California, Los Angeles, Health System in Santa Monica, discussed oncologic emergencies and the APRN’s role in rapid identification of a diagnosis.

The number of U.S. adults aged 65 and over is rapidly increasing: by 2030, they’re estimated to represent about 70% of cancer diagnoses. During a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, speakers discussed how the complexities of cancer care can affect the expanding population of older adults with cancer.

What the parents of a child dying from cancer need to hear above all from the healthcare professionals caring for their child is that everything possible has been done, to the best of the health care team’s ability, said Pamela S. Hinds, PhD, RN, FAAN, in the 2019 Mara Mogensen Flaherty Memorial Lecture on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Workplace violence is both highly prevalent and underreported in health care settings, according to Melissa Weigel, RN, and Lorina Welper, APRN, CNS, MS, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, who spoke during a session on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Many times, when patients are asked about their wishes at the end-of-life, they perceive it as asking how they want to die, which can be scary for patients and a hard conversation for nurses. What if there was a way to change that conversation to suggest that it is way more about how the patient would want to live? In her session “Advance Care Planning: It’s About Life,” on Friday, April 12, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Erin Dickman explained how the advance care planning process can help nurses hold those conversations.

Keynote speaker and ONS member Rachel Walker, PhD, RN, nurse inventor and assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts, emphasized the vital role nurses play as agents of innovation and invention in practice during the opening session on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Combining radiation with immunotherapy can enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer, and evidence now suggests that this synergy may lead to improved patient survival, Annette E. Quinn, RN, MSN, of the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center, said during a session on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Robotic surgery represents the most significant advancement to date in minimally invasive surgery, Lisa Parks, MS, APRN-CP, ANP-BC, of James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, said during a session on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Radiation therapy may cause traumatic side effects in patients with cancer, yet many standard management strategies lack strong evidence. During their session at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Renata Benc, RN, BA, MSc(A), CON(C), of Jewish General Hospital of the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montréal in Quebec, Canada, and John Hillson, RN, BSN, BA, OCN^®, of Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC, instructed nurses on how to support patients undergoing radiation treatment.

Oncology nurses are a vital source of education and support for patients undergoing radiation therapy, enabling patients to complete therapy and minimize side effects, Richard L.S. Jennelle, MD, of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said during a session on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Oncology care has shifted from the hospital inpatient setting to outpatient ambulatory care. Indications are that this will be a continuing and expanding trend for the future, increasing the need for ambulatory care nurses. Ambulatory care is complex and requires highly specialized nursing skills gained with education and experience. Most new graduate nurses are employed in acute care settings rather than ambulatory settings because they lack the skill set needed for ambulatory care. How can ambulatory care settings bridge the education and experience gap to fill this expanding need?

Cancer in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) population has remained underresearched, and information that is known is less likely to reach oncology professionals who could use it to improve care. In “Care of the LGBTQ+ Patient With Cancer,” Carlton Brown, RN, PhD, AOCN^®, NEA-BC, FAAN, president of Zenith Health Care Solutions, Inc., in Portland, OR, and David Rice, PhD, MSN, RN, NP, NEA-BC, director of education, evidence-based practice, and research at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA, examined the delivery of quality cancer care in people identifying as LGBTQ+, along with strategies for addressing their unique needs and minimizing barriers to care. They presented the session on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Genetic testing and genetics care are playing an increasingly important role in oncology and are continually evolving, Suzanne M. Mahon, DNSc, RN, AOCN^®, AGN-BC, of the School of Nursing at Saint Louis University in Missouri, said during a session on Thursday, April 11, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

The field of cancer care is changing and evolving like never before. In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a number of new biosimilars, targeted agents, and agents that target certain mutations regardless of tumor site. New requirements for accreditation and reimbursement mean oncology nurses are being used in a growing number of new or developing roles including navigation and survivorship. On Thursday, April 11, 2019, Kathleen Wiley, RN, MSN, AOCNS^®, addressed these emerging trends and more in a clinical chat at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

As the current landscape of opioid pain control becomes more complex, oncology nurses remain vital to safe and effective treatment. During a session on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Tonya Edwards, MSN, MS, RN, FNP-C, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Timothy Tyler, PharmD, FCSHP, FHOPA, of Desert Regional Medical Center’s Comprehensive Cancer Center in Palm Springs, CA, discussed the challenges of opioid pain management as well as actions nurses can take to protect patients.

Although nurses strive to promote evidence-based interventions, many practices and beliefs persist despite limited research to support them. During a session on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA, Nancy Houlihan, MA, AOCN^®, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, Lynn Gallagher-Ford, PhD, RN, NE-BC, DPFNAP, FAAN, of Ohio State University, Helene Fuld Health Trust, National Institute for Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare, in Columbus, and Suzanne Dixon, MPH, MS, RD, of No Nutrition Fear in Portland, OR, instructed nurses on how to be myth busters in oncology practice settings.

Immunotherapy has evolved into the “fourth pillar” of cancer care, along with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, according to Laura S. Wood RN, MSN, OCN®, of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center in Ohio and Krista M. Rubin, MS, RN, FNP-BC, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who spoke during a session on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA. Immunotherapeutic agents, however, are vastly different from chemotherapies and have a distinct toxicity profile that advanced practice nurses must be familiar with.

The communication deficit among healthcare professionals, families, and patients is a barrier in the delivery of end-of-life care and can result in conflict, according to Elizabeth Thiel, MD, MS, of the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and Andria Caton, BSN, RN, OCN®, CHPN, of Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Thiel and Caton discussed end-of-life communication and the role that nurses play in those conversations during a session on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, at the ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA.

Managing toxicities and adverse events (AEs) so that patients can continue to stay on effective treatments is essential to improving outcomes. Catherine Hill, BSN, RN, OCN^®, Margaret Blaney, RN, BSN, Ashley Layton, BSN, RN, OCN^®, and Kaddie Lopez, BSN, RN, OCN^®, PHN, discussed ways to manage and prevent symptoms in cancer care during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

Ibrutinib is a first-in-class, once-daily inhibitor of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase. In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ibrutinib for the treatment of adult patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) after failure of one or more lines of systemic therapy.

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy has become an integral part of the advancement of lymphoma and other cancer treatments. However, educational resources and available published literature are still lacking for oncology and intensive care nurses.

Electronic health records (EHRs) can offer so much more than a way to keep all processes and procedures linked to a patient. Christina Boord, BSN, RN, OCN^®, and Cori Kopecky, MSN, RN, OCN^®, discussed electronic health records, patient data, and outcomes during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) are creating new and innovative programs that educate patients and help them live better, healthier lives. Lorraine Drapek, DNP, FNP-BC, AOCNP^®, Geline Joy Tamayo, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, OCN^®, TTS, Suzanne McGettigan, MSN, CRNP, AOCN^®, ANP-BC, and Edward Bentlyewski, MSN, APN, NP-C, AOCNP^®, discussed their experiences with APN-run clinics and program implementation during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

Staying updated on advancements in cancer care increases the chances of improved outcomes for patients. Cara Henderson, RN, BSN, CMSRN, patient service manager of surgical oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven, CT; Elizabeth Rodriguez, DNP, RN, OCN^®, nurse leader of outpatient services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, Amanda Choflet, DNP, RN, OCN^®, director of nursing in radiation oncology at Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore, MD, and Megan Howe, MSN, RN, OCN^®, nurse manager of Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, discussed the factors that relate to improving outcomes, the multidisciplinary approaches to the process change strategy, and the results and future direction of chosen pathways during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

As precision oncology continues to expand, so does the ability to use less-toxic targeted therapies. James Chen, MD, assistant professor of biomedical informatics and assistant professor of internal medicine at the division of medical oncology at Ohio State University in Columbus, described his work with genomics in cancer care and the challenges in precision medicine at the 43^rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

An estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 40,920 related deaths will occur in the United States in 2018. Patients with distant disease have a poorer five-year relative survival rate (26.9%) compared with localized (98.9%) and regional (85.2%) disease. HER2+ breast cancer accounts for approximately 20%–25% of all breast cancer diagnoses, and this type of breast cancer is more common in younger women, decreasing in frequency with age across all stages.

If it seems like a new oncology drug or indication comes to market every month, you wouldn’t be wrong. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a record number of oncology agents in 2017 and 2018. Teresa Knoop, MSN, RN, AOCN^®, assistant director of clinical operations at the Clinical Trials Shared Resource at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, TN, gave an update on the latest therapies during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

As the opioid abuse epidemic prevails in the United States, patients with cancer can be affected. Yu-Ping Chang, PhD, RN, FGSA, associate dean for research and scholarship in the School of Nursing at the University at Buffalo in New York, and Tonya Edwards, MS, MSN, BSN, FNP-C, a nurse practitioner of supportive care at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, discussed how the opioid epidemic affects patients and how to identify and prevent opioid and substance abuse during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

During the State-of-the-Science Lecture at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC, Jane Fall-Dickinson, PhD, RN, AOCN®, of Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, discussed chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), specifically its oral cavity complications. She presented challenges, clinical data, and goals for improving its treatment and management options.

Catherine Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN, of the University of Pittsburgh, and Amy Hoffman, PhD, RN, of Michigan State University, shared their experiences in building interdisciplinary research teams to assess symptom management during a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

Margaret Bevans, PhD, RN, AOCN®, FAAN, program director and clinical nurse scientist at the National Institutes of Health’s Nursing Research and Translational Science department, detailed her own journey and empowered nurses to amplify their impact during her Mara Mogensen Flaherty Memorial lecture at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

During the American Association for Cancer Research/ONS Bench to Bedside session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC, Victor Velculescu, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Maura Kadan, RN, MSN, of Personal Genome Diagnostics, dissected the science behind precision oncology, including an understanding of genetic alterations, the use of immunotherapy, and how to advance survival with these clinical breakthroughs.

During a session at the 43rd Annual Congress in Washington, DC, various speakers discussed the latest findings in patient safety.