Get to know Maggie A. Smith, DNP, MSN/Ed, RN, OCN^®, director-at-large on the ONS Board of Directors from 2017–2020. Maggie is an oncology nurse navigator at the University of Chicago Medical Center in Illinois.

Celebrations are planned around the globe for 2020 to recognize the impact that nurses make on the health and well-being of our communities. What’s the occasion? The World Health Organization has designated it the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, in honor of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday. This exciting year will culminate with the end of the three-year, international Nursing Now! campaign designed to raise the profile and status of nurses worldwide. And we’ll look forward to the release of the new Future of Nursing 2020–2030 consensus study from the National Academy of Medicine that will describe how nurses can help people to get and stay healthy.

Connection, creativity, and change were just some of the components of the ONS Board of Directors’ third-quarter face-to-face meeting held October 31–November 3, 2019. In addition to their regular agenda, the ONS Board conducted enterprise-wide joint and individual meetings with the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation and Oncology Nursing Foundation boards.

To continue to guide the future path of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) and its commitment to innovation, advocacy, and excellence in the nursing profession, the ONS Board of Directors has elected Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) Director of Nursing, Evidence-Based Practice, Nancy Houlihan, MA, RN, AOCN^®, as the Society’s next president. Houlihan will succeed Laura Fennimore, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, professor of acute and tertiary care at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, who concludes her two-year tenure as president on April 29, 2020, at ONS’s 45th Annual Congress in San Antonio, TX.

A few weeks ago, a former student who was returning to the Pittsburgh area six years after graduation invited me to lunch. She had completed a master’s degree in the interim and had worked successfully as a nurse practitioner.

Just before ONS kicked off its Fourth Annual Capitol Hill Days, the ONS Board of Directors met face-to-face in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2019. On the agenda were several discussion topics that support and advance ONS as a leader and trailblazer in cancer care, including position statements that convey the Society’s viewpoint on key issues and guidelines that will set the standard of care for symptom management.

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.

Using a predetermined formula, the ONS Board of Directors annually evaluates membership dues to ensure the levels will enable the Society to continue to provide ONS members with the high-quality products, services, and resources they need to transform care for patients with cancer. Based on the formula, the Board decided to maintain dues at the 2019 level for 2020.

How are you taking care of yourself? It’s a question I’ve asked many team members, including leaders I have had the privilege of serving, over the course of my career. I’ve even added this question into certain candidate interviews to assess resiliency in individuals. And of course I ask it of myself often. That’s because it is my professional responsibility to ensure I am caring for myself. Provision 5 of the Code of Ethics for Nurses says, “The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to promote health and safety.” 

When my son was in nursery school, his teachers encouraged him to express his frustration with others by “using his words” rather than lashing out in some other nonproductive way. I was reminded of the power of words delivered by a compelling speaker when watching a video of the comedian and advocate, Jon Stewart, testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee about the needs of 9/11 first responders. His passion was evident in his voice, in his emotionally laden pauses, and in the words that he used to describe the ongoing healthcare concerns of those heroes. His strong testimony moved the committee and House to support the legislation, pass it on to the Senate, and send it to President Trump’s desk, where he signed it into law in July 2019. Stewart told a convincing story to bring others to action.

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. 

One word comes to mind to describe the 2019 ONS Chapter Leadership Weekend (CLW): exhilarating. As a chapter Board member attending for the first time, I learned new information, networked and met with dedicated chapter leaders, and of course got to eat some delicious food while in Pittsburgh.

Have you had “aha” moments in your life? Times when you finally understood something so completely that you could now fully explain it to someone else? Perhaps you had an aha moment after a session at the recent ONS Congress or after reading an article in the Oncology Nursing Forum or Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. Or maybe you finally understood the benefits of dual inhibition of ER+ metastatic breast cancer with antihormonal therapy and CDK4/6 inhibitors after reviewing the recent infographic included with your ONS journal mailing in May.

Leadership, integrity, inclusion, and diversity were common threads in several discussions during the ONS Board of Directors’ conference call on May 21, 2019. In addition to finalizing plans for their participation in the Leadership Think Tank, which will be held on July 22–23, 2019, the Board made the following decisions and approvals. 

As the 2020 presidential campaign kicks into high gear, the much-anticipated candidacy of former Vice President Joe Biden was announced. Biden, along with his wife Jill, had to make the necessary legal adjustments to cut ties with their formal involvement in the Biden Foundation, including a number of cancer-related projects. The Bidens made the move to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest with a presidential run.

On Sunday, April 14, 2019, the ONS Board of Directors held a face-to-face meeting at the end of a highly successful ONS 44th Annual Congress in Anaheim, CA. New directors took office and new plans unfolded for fostering nurse leaders and supporting ONS chapters.

May is a month of celebration as we look forward to graduations, Mother’s Day, National Nurses’ Day, and Oncology Nursing Month. Many of us will celebrate with small gifts or trinkets, continuing education events, or treats like special breakfasts, donuts, or pizza parties from our employers. How will you celebrate your role in a profession that the public continues to describe as the most trusted year after year? How will you continue to nurture and protect yourself as one of nearly 4 million national treasures?  

Advocacy is a pillar for both ONS and me, personally. As a professor, organizer, chapter leader, and now ONS president, engagement in oncology nursing issues is an essential part of what I do and who I am. In March 2019, I accompanied ONS staff along with my ONS Pittsburgh Chapter colleague, Grace Campbell, PhD, MSW, RN, CRRN, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, to meet with Congressional Representative Connor Lamb’s (D-PA) district office director.

Cancer care is evolving rapidly, and ONS is committed to providing oncology nurses with tools to stay abreast of innovative treatments and technologies used to care for people with cancer. The ONS Board of Directors has both strategic and stewardship responsibilities for the fiscal health of the organization that will help us to meet those goals. 

It was a full agenda for the ONS Board of Directors’ February 2019 in-person meeting, during which critical discussions and decisions about ONS and oncology nursing occurred.   

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.

As a vanguard for oncology nursing certification and practice excellence, Cynthia Miller Murphy, MSN, RN, CAE, FAAN, executive director for the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC), is a nationally recognized expert in credentialing. Her tenure as ONCC executive director helped nurses achieve more than 100,000 different certifications to demonstrate their commitment to excellence in nursing and patient-centered care. After almost 30 years at ONCC, Miller Murphy is retiring as executive director effective April 8, 2019. 

The ONS Congress Planning team really nailed it this year. In Just four words, using the theme of Growing Together, Transforming Care, they were able to describe the essence of why we will gather as a professional organization for ONS’s annual meeting.

Setting ONS up for a strong future was the overarching theme of the January 2019 ONS Board of Directors meeting by conference call. The group appointed new members to the Leadership Development Committee—which grows, shapes, and nominates ONS’s future leaders—and devised a strategy for identifying what oncology nursing’s role will be 10 years in the future.  

During its December 2018 meeting, the ONS Board of Directors closed a successful year with discussions and decisions that will strengthen ONS leadership at all levels in 2019 and beyond.

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.

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.

From her patients to her colleagues to the entire cancer care community, ONS Past President Sandra Lee Schafer, RN, MN, AOCN^®, made everyone she touched feel special, inspiring and motivating a generation of oncology nurses in advancing care for patients with cancer. Schafer passed away on December 7, 2018, but her legacy of compassion and care lives on.

During the October 2018 board meeting held at the national office, the ONS Board of Directors heard reports from leadership and status reports on research and evidence-based practice work, discussed key initiatives, received an update from the Oncology Nursing Foundation, and reviewed and approved the Society’s operating budget for 2019. Additionally, two key generative discussions focused on the ongoing implementation of ONS chapter model changes and a review and strategy session around ONS position statements.

During the ONS Board of Directors monthly meeting by conference call in September 2018, supporting ONS chapters through the model transition continued to top the agenda.

On an unseasonably warm Saturday in October, Pittsburgh, PA, was struck by one of the United States’ greatest tragedies in recent history. The shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill—a quiet, unassuming neighborhood in the heart of the city—sent shockwaves through the community, the country, and the world. On October 24, 2018, one man’s attack violently stole 11 lives from the Jewish community.

ONS chapters, endorsed recommendations and guidelines, and the role of nurses caring for patients with cancer topped the ONS Board of Directors’ discussion topics during its August 2018 conference call meeting.

As this important midterm election approaches, my hope is that all ONS members recognize the importance of raising our collective voices as we elect our next leaders at the local, state, and federal level on November 6. In the words of former First Lady Michelle Obama, “It is more important than ever that we show up to vote, not just this year, but every year and in every election. Every voice must be heard, and every vote must be counted.”

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.

Some lines are more memorable than others. In the Broadway musical Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton challenges Aaron Burr with this statement: “If you stand for nothin’, Burr, what will you fall for?”

I have stolen that line when teaching nurses about bullying and incivility in our workplaces. Unfortunately, this is a topic that we still need to talk about.

Look for some new changes related to ONS Board of Directors activities during the 44th Annual ONS Congress in Anaheim, CA, in April 2019. During its June 2018 meeting, the Board discussed and made decisions about two Congress-related topics: the annual business meeting and the inclusion of leadership awareness. 

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. 

As the ONS Board of Directors held its first meeting with some of its newest members after the 43rd Annual ONS Congress in May, transitions were top of mind. The Board successfully transitioned its leadership as new president, Laura Fennimore, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, and three new directors-at-large (Heather Thompson Mackey, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, AOCN^®, Anne Ireland, MSN, RN, AOCN^®, CENP, and Susan Bruce, MSN, RN, OCN^®, AOCNS^®) came on board.

I have learned a good deal about leadership through networking and leadership opportunities with my local ONS chapter, project teams and task forces, and serving as a board member.

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.

To meet the ONS mission as well as 501(c)(6) organization requirements, ONS’s key categories of revenue and expenses continue to focus on providing member and educational services, such as website resources, online and journal-related continuing nursing education, and publications that support oncology nurses and quality patient care.

Whether being called on to inform the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, develop novel resources for patients with prostate cancer, or create programs for smoking cessation, nurse scientists are continually advancing patient-centered oncology care. Nurse researcher contributions have led to improved patient outcomes, better symptom management interventions, and overall quality of care. As part of its commitment to future nursing research, ONS created a new scholar-in-residence position to drive and inform the Society’s research agenda and highlight the integral work of ONS member nurse scientists who are moving the needle for patients with cancer.

As I reflect on my time as ONS president, I realize that I am concluding my term as I began: grateful for the oncology nurses who have inspired and supported me. We are all guided by the common goal to provide the best possible care to individuals with cancer. 

To save costs and reduce the number of meetings, the ONS Board combined the traditional January and March meetings into a late-February meeting. It served as my final in-person board meeting, a bittersweet moment filled with reflection on ONS’s past, present, and future. 

On its January conference call, the ONS Board of Directors completed work that will guide ONS leadership for the future.