ONS Seeks a Dynamic and Visionary Oncology Nurse to Serve as Editor of ONS Connect

The ONS Connect editor ensures that the journal’s content supports the news magazine’s mission and is appropriate and appealing to members at all practice levels. He or she selects and works with contributing editors, leads editorial board meetings, and conducts publication programs and activities.

Oncology Nurses Continue to Reinvent Themselves for the Future

Nurses are in high demand. Since 2000, the nursing profession has grown so steadily that it’s outpaced the growth of the U.S. population. Over the past decade, 500,000 new RNs joined the ranks, an increase of 24%.

How Does Bioethics Affect Your Nursing Practice?

Nurses have been the front line of health care since the time of Florence Nightingale. Beginning with Nightingale’s original pledge and continuing through the American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics for Nurses, we have been conscious of our commitment to our patients and ethical practice. But what exactly do we mean by ethics?

A Calculated Risk

People with a presumed hereditary risk for cancer have more options than ever when it comes to calculating the reality of that risk. The possibilities are both empowering and daunting. What tests are they eligible for? Will insurance cover the testing? And what implications do the results have?

Joint Commission Toolkit Aims to Decrease Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections

Recent studies show that approximately 41,000 patients in the United States alone develop central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) annually and that CLABSIs are one of the most deadly types of healthcare-associated infections.

The Case of the Mind-Altering Mineral

Hal is a 73-year-old patient with refractory multiple myeloma. Florence, his wife, calls the hematologist’s office and asks to speak with the triage nurse. She says she is worried about her husband and that “he’s just not himself.” What would you do?

Telephone Reporting Identifies Symptoms Most Important to Patients

As oncology care continues to move toward delivery in the outpatient setting, the number of patients reporting symptoms by telephone also continues to increase. Unlike face-to-face symptom reporting, telephone reports are initiated by patients or caregivers.

The Case of the Severe Sudden-Onset Swelling

Gina is filling in for the triage nurse at her facility’s outpatient solid tumor department. She receives a call from a patient who reports severe swelling in her left arm after returning from a trip on the opposite side of the United States. She says the skin in her arm and hand is quite tight, and that her hand was throbbing when she woke up this morning. What would you do?

Cancer Insurance Checklist Helps Patients Navigate Choice of Insurance

When the new state-based health insurance marketplaces open on October 1, 2013, as part of the Affordable Care Act, choice of insurance will be added to the long list of difficult decisions patients with cancer will face during their diagnosis and treatment.

Death Happens Every Day

I finally got to read my pile of journals that had been occupying my coffee table for the summer. I usually take a few volumes and hole up on the couch absorbing the new research that has come out. As always, I was personally touched by Dr. Anne Katz's editorial in the July issue of the Oncology Nursing Forum titled "Scar Tissue in the Heart."