According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths each year. That alarming statistic reminds us that we are part of a global network of oncology nurses caring for those diagnosed with cancer. For many people in low- to middle-income countries, late-stage disease, premature death, and pain and suffering are common. Opioids and supportive care medications are sometimes sparse, and clinicians lack the knowledge and resources to provide palliative care.

Danya Garner, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, OCN®, CCRN-K, associate director of continuing professional education at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, will serve as the next Oncology Nursing Society president. During its November 2022 meeting, the ONS Board of Directors appointed Garner to succeed Jeannine Brant, PhD, APRN-CNS, AOCN®, FAAN, who concludes her three-year board tenure at ONS’s 48th Annual Congress® in San Antonio, TX.

To uncover what you value and whether your ONS membership is currently meeting your needs, ONS surveys its members every January. Your responses help us understand how you experience ONS and what is important to you as well as the challenges you face and the skills you need for the future. This year, 1,068 of you returned your surveys, and I am grateful that you took the time to provide your feedback.

Happy New Year, oncology nursing colleagues! When I enter a new year, I like to ponder all of the positivity that it can bring.

When a year winds down, we often find ourselves reflecting on our key moments, events, and accomplishments. Although our challenges from COVID-19—and now the flu and RSV—remain, ONS, the Oncology Nursing Foundation, and the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation are proud of serving and supporting you this year. We celebrate your commitment to the profession, to your continued career development, and to our organizations.

Advocacy can mean many things to nurses, and the meaning may even change depending on your position and perspective. The dictionary definition is “the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal,” but being an oncology nursing advocate goes far beyond that. It’s about having a vision for something and not settling for the status quo. It’s about striving for the best in whatever that cause may be—our patients, the profession, or health care in general.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Nurses Foundation has monitored its effect on the nursing profession through a series of surveys, the most recent of which collected specific information on staffing, scheduling, organizational support, and solutions. More than 11,000 nurses contributed to the survey, but those who identified as retired were not included in the data analysis. As I read the findings, the report’s subhead—Nurses Not Feeling Heard, Ongoing Staffing and Workplace Issues Contributing to Unhealthy Work Environment—caught my attention. How does one confirm feeling heard?

Recognizing the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s historic moonshot speech, on September 12, 2022, President Joe Biden delivered an update on his relaunched Cancer Moonshot Initiative and progress made on its moonshot goal of “ending cancer as we know it.”

Hope is an essential element of the human experience, a belief for positive outcomes both today and in the future.

PITTSBURGH, PA—August 25, 2022—Seven emerging Oncology Nursing Society member leaders under age 40, representing diverse oncology nursing backgrounds around the world, joined the ONS Leadership Development Committee’s 2022 Young Leaders pilot program.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson, reversing the decision from the 1973 case, Roe v. Wade. Many nursing, medical, and health organizations issued statements in reaction, and opinions among ONS stakeholders and constituents will differ on the decision. As it leads an organization that represents oncology nurses and advocates for patient-centered care, the ONS Board of Directors reviews social and political issues through the lens of the Society’s mission. With that perspective, the ONS Board believes that two statements from other organizations are important for members to know.

Strong leadership drives a strong organization, and ONS’s Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is critical to building the Society’s leadership today and in the future.  

ONS honored a long-time member, Margaret Hansen Frogge, MS, RN, for a career of contributions to cancer care with its 2022 ONS Lifetime Achievement Award during the 47th Annual ONS Congress® in Anaheim, CA. The award commemorates Frogge’s passion for the profession through decades of oncology nursing practice and leadership. 

In a fitting tribute to a life that touched so many others, ONS honored member Catherine Lyons, RN, MS, NEA-BC, FNAP, posthumously with a 2022 ONS Lifetime Achievement Award during its 47th Annual ONS Congress® in Anaheim, CA. Before her retirement and death in November 2021, Lyons was an executive consultant for oncology services. 

Professional member associations such as ONS are built on collaborations: between members and members, members and staff, staff and staff, and organizations and organizations.

As I begin my ONS presidency, I want to acknowledge the challenges and stress we have endured the past two years, which were most likely the hardest years in our careers. We need time to grieve for loss of patients; changes in the nursing profession, including equipment and personnel shortages; and the personal things we have lost that give meaning to who we are—graduations, weddings, memorial services, vacations. It all matters.

Every year, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) recognizes oncology nurses, employers, and researchers through its awards program. Today, the Society announced the recipients of the 2022 ONS Awards at the 47th Annual ONS Congress in Anaheim, CA.

This month begins the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our world is still facing new variants and recommendations. We press forward to honor the memories of those we’ve lost. We adapt our personal and professional lives to the constantly changing guidelines and make every effort to cope with the encroaching burnout.

In December 2015, I titled my ONS Connect column, “I Am Nurse, Hear Me Roar,” and addressed the outcry after a talk show host diminished Ms. Colorado, a nurse who was competing in the Ms. America competition that year. Nursing united its voice to educate the talk show host, the media, and the public.

African American nurse leaders in ONS have paved the way in eliminating cancer disparities, identifying and tackling social determinants of health, and providing Black communities with educational and clinical resources. Their initiatives embody the importance of well-being for Black healthcare professionals, patients, and members of the community—as well as the 2022 Black History Month theme, “Black Health and Wellness.” This year’s theme brings a national emphasis not only on the important discoveries made in science and medicine by Black researchers and healthcare professionals, but also the health and wellness of Black communities across the United States.

As we turn the calendar to the new year, it feels a bit like the film Groundhog Day. Information about the COVID-19 pandemic—and related topics like masks, vaccination, and protecting ourselves and our patients from infection—still dominates the news and the literature. Many areas are struggling with surges in winter cases, and we all feel the personal loss of friends and family, colleagues, and patients and the toll it has taken on our profession. It is, without doubt, a constant presence in our lives.

The ONS, Oncology Nursing Foundation, and Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation Boards of Directors all held their in-person meetings concurrently in early November. One day was committed to joint strategic alignment work with executive leadership staff. Consultants led the group through a strategic alignment session to identify the top themes across the Enterprise to build overarching goals for the three organizations by early 2022. All of the boards are developing individual strategic plans that will begin in 2023.

In addition to her daily practice as a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, ONS member Naomi Cazeau, RN, MSN, ANP-BC, AOCNP^®, is using her leadership skills to make a difference in advocating for patients on a broader level. In October 2021, the Sepsis Alliance appointed her to its advisory board to help guide the organization’s mission of improving awareness and care.

During a crisp fall week on September 22–24, 2021, the ONS Board of Directors met in person for the first time since 2019. Dynamics are different when everyone is in the same room, and the Board embraced the energy it infused into its work. Here are some of the important topics they discussed, and ONS members can read the complete minutes from the three-day meeting at ons.org/board-minutes.

Leadership is a group activity, and the ONS vision, mission, and core values can be achieved only through full participation of ONS's Board of Directors and other groups. The volunteer members serving as directors-at-large meet at least monthly to achieve the annual objectives, and the Board’s subcommittees—as well as other standing committees of volunteer members outside of the Board—accomplish specific goals. ONS uses two key committees to achieve excellence, quality, and sustainability through leadership: the Board’s Positions Subcommittee and the Leadership Development Committee (LDC).

ONS member Christopher R. Friese, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, FAAN, oncology nurse researcher and professor at the School of Nursing in the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, was named one of seven researchers and clinicians that President Joe Biden appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board on September 15, 2021.

Longtime ONS member Betty Ferrell, PhD, RN, CHPN, FAAN, FPCN, director and professor of nursing research and education at City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment center in Duarte, CA, will be recognized by the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) as a living legend at the Academy’s Living Legends Ceremony held during the Academy’s annual health policy conference on October 8, 2021. She is one of four nurse leaders being honored as a living legend this year.

Nine Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) members were included among the highly distinguished nurse leaders inducted into the American Academy of Nursing’s (AAN’s) 2021 Class of Fellows. In total, 225 inductees will be recognized at the Academy’s annual conference, taking place on October 7–9, 2021, virtually and in-person in Washington, DC.

Nurses don’t always have to venture beyond the bedside for unique career change opportunities. Always innovating and evolving, the profession identifies new roles for clinical practice nurses to meet patients’ needs.

During its June 10–11, 2021, meeting, the ONS Board of Directors held a joint session with the Oncology Nursing Foundation. In small group breakouts, both boards evaluated whether the Foundation’s current academic scholarship opportunities are adequate and responsive to the educational needs of the oncology nursing field. Findings from the sessions were compiled to inform additional discussion during future meetings.

Where there’s cancer, there are oncology nurses. It’s been that way even before 1971, when President Richard Nixon established and signed into law the National Cancer Act to fight the “war on cancer,” which had just become the second leading cause of death in the United States. Born from the act, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2021. As part of the celebration, it named three oncology nurses and ONS members on its champions and changemakers list—Betty Ferrell, PhD, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN, Deborah Watkins Bruner, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Christine Miaskowski, RN, PhD, FAAN—in recognition of their contributions to cancer prevention, early detection, and symptom science.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic was a wake-up call for preparedness: it caught society unaware and highlighted gaps in virtually every modern-day system. With those lessons learned, when the United States started removing pandemic-related public health restrictions and we began a return to “normal,” experts from all corners of society started looking to what the future will bring.

Get to know Valerie Burger, RN, MA, MS, OCN^®, CPN, treasurer for the ONS Board of Directors from 2021–2023 and director-at-large from 2021–2024. Burger is an assistant vice president of cancer services from Bellmore, NY.

May annually marks a celebration of oncology nurses, and during its May 25, 2021, meeting, the ONS Board of Directors did just that: it welcomed and celebrated new members Valerie Burger, RN, MA, MS, OCN®, CPN, Danya Garner, MSN, RN, OCN®, CCRN-K, NPD-BC, and Patricia Geddie, PhD, APRN, AOCNS®, FCNS, and conducted an ice breaker to learn more about each other. Highlights from the decisions, updates, and other Board actions from that meeting follow.

In May 2021, the National Academy of Medicine released its next iteration of the Future of Nursing report: 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. In it, the academy calls for nurses to lead a stronger, more diversified workforce to promote health and well-being to their colleagues, patients, and communities and to address the structural racism and systemic inequities that have fueled widespread health disparities. 

ONS Director-at-Large Anne Ireland, MSN, RN, AOCN®, CENP, and executive director of City of Hope’s Clinical Network and Outreach Nursing Department in Duarte, CA, was among the 12 San Gabriel Valley, CA, women on the frontlines of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to whom U.S. Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) dedicated the 2021 Congressional Woman of the Year award. The recipients were nominated for their extraordinary community service and leadership during the pandemic.

“The Grief Crisis Is Coming.” So warned the headline of a New York Times editorial in which the author described the toll of losses from the pandemic on the individual level. She said that for each person who dies from COVID-19, nine loved ones have been left behind to grieve, according to the COVID-19 Bereavement Multiplier introduced by a professor at Pennsylvania State University. That number is conservative and does not consider the healthcare team that cared for those patients. 

Dedication to their patients and each other and an innate passion unrivaled by most other professions are two of the reasons why oncology nurses make great leaders—I know that from my daily work with colleagues both near and far as well as my experience as part of ONS’s Leadership Development Committee. 

When you picture a nurse leader, what do you see? The thought of being a leader or taking on a formal leadership role can seem intimidating for so many nurses. But age, citizenship status, ethnicity, or gender are strengths, not obstacles. Every nurse enters the profession with the foundation to be a successful leader. 

May is the month we celebrate nursing across the world. May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, is International Nurses Day, designated as such since 1974 by the International Council of Nurses. This year’s theme is Nurses: A Voice to Lead, A Vision for Future Health Care in recognition of nursing's role on the front lines of the pandemic.

Get to know Teresa Knoop, MSN, RN, AOCN^®, ONS director-at-large from 2020–2023, an assistant director in the clinical trials office at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center in Brentwood, TN.

The ONS Board of Directors had a full agenda for its longer quarterly meeting on February 18–19, 2021. Among other work, it evaluated the results of the annual member satisfaction survey, discussed the fiscal health of the organization based on year-end financials, and continued the conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion in nursing and cancer care. Details on the Board’s decisions in key areas follow, and ONS members can review the full meeting minutes at ons.org/board-minutes.  

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.

Chapters are the heart of ONS at your local level, and during its January 19, 2021, meeting, the ONS Board of Directors discussed chapter-specific feedback from the leadership survey. Chapters have relied on virtual connection recently because of the pandemic, and they are still adapting to ONS’s new chapter standards. The Board identified opportunities to connect and communicate with chapters to support them in those goals. Highlights from that discussion and other actions taken during the January meeting follow, and ONS members can view the full minutes at ons.org/board-minutes.

As we pass the one-year mark of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and reflect on all that has ensued since last March, human nature is to focus on our losses. By all accounts, 2020 has been a difficult period in our personal, professional, and civic lives. All of us grieve for our loved ones, patients, and the freedoms of life we have sacrificed.

When ONS Past President Mary Gullatte, PhD, RN, ANP-BC, AOCN^®, LSSYB, FAAN, was elected by her peers in 2012, she said it was the “absolute pinnacle of my oncology nursing career”: Gullatte made the ONS history books as the Society’s first African American president. But the achievement has been just one part of an illustrious, 40-year career in oncology nursing and administration, holding roles like vice president of patient services, chief nursing officer, and director of oncology nursing services throughout the Emory University healthcare system in Atlanta, GA, where she currently serves as the corporate director of nursing evidence-based practice and research.

In its year-end wrap-up meeting on December 8, 2020, the ONS Board of Directors focused on oncology nursing leadership development, both within the general nursing profession as well as within the Society itself. It also finalized the topics for the annual ONS membership survey for January 2021. Highlights from those conversations follow, and ONS members can read a full report in the meeting minutes.

Each year, February marks Black History Month: a time of celebration, recognition, and awareness of the countless accomplishments and achievements of black leaders and trailblazers throughout history. In the oncology nursing community, it’s no different. ONS’s African American leaders have made a lasting difference to patients with cancer and the professional community, paving the way for future generations and championing excellence in oncology nursing.

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.