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    Innovative Oncology Nurses Break Down Communication Barriers for Patients Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
    Special Populations
    Innovative Oncology Nurses Break Down Communication Barriers for Patients Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
    March 10, 2023
    How I Practice Mindfulness as an Oncology Nurse
    Nurse well-being
    How I Practice Mindfulness as an Oncology Nurse
    March 03, 2023
    Clinical and Pharmaceutical Nurse Educators Collaborate to Bring Training to Nurses and Improve Patient Care
    Oncology nurse education
    Clinical and Pharmaceutical Nurse Educators Collaborate to Bring Training to Nurses and Improve Patient Care
    January 13, 2023
    Oncology Nurse Uses Retirement to Help Patients and Healthcare Professionals Understand Pancreatic Cancer Biomarker Testing Results
    Pancreatic cancer
    Oncology Nurse Uses Retirement to Help Patients and Healthcare Professionals Understand Pancreatic Cancer Biomarker Testing Results
    November 11, 2022
    The Life of Marie Curie and Her Contributions to Oncology
    Cancer treatments
    The Life of Marie Curie and Her Contributions to Oncology
    November 07, 2022
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    Patient empowerment

    Tip Sheet Helps Nurses Confront Systemic Racism by Providing Equitable Hair Care
    Patient empowerment

    Tip Sheet Helps Nurses Confront Systemic Racism by Providing Equitable Hair Care

    Maintaining a patient’s personal grooming during an inpatient stay is an important aspect of holistic nursing care, but nurses and hospitals alike may fall short when it comes to textured hair care, nurses reported in the American Journal of Nursing.

    February 22, 2023
    Use Active Listening to Engage More Deeply in Patient Discussions
    Research

    Use Active Listening to Engage More Deeply in Patient Discussions

    In your day-to-day conversations with patients, colleagues, or even friends and family at home, are you merely hearing what others tell you or are you actively listening to them? When we actively listen to what someone is saying, we intreat curiosity about their words and the emotions they are communicating with their tone and body language. Active listening engages a whole-person connection, whereas passive listening relies on the brain’s ability to catch the main points of a conversation.

    January 24, 2023
    Redefining the Bell Makes the Ritual Inclusive for All Patients With Cancer
    Patient empowerment

    Redefining the Bell Makes the Ritual Inclusive for All Patients With Cancer

    Patients often report mixed feelings about “ringing the bell” to signify completion of their cancer treatment: It’s a joyous moment, but they may have underlying apprehension, too. And other patients may never have a chance to ring the bell if their cancer progresses despite receiving the best possible care.

    December 23, 2022
    Use Conversational Assessments to Deliver Whole-Person Care
    Oncology nurse education

    Use Conversational Assessments to Deliver Whole-Person Care

    Whole-person care involves evaluating a patient’s physical, emotional, spiritual, and social health. A conversational assessment can help oncology nurses foster an open dialogue about the patient as a person, not just their physical or health needs.

    July 19, 2022
    Connect With Your Patients on a Human Level as Well as a Healthcare Level
    Oncology nurse-patient relationship

    Connect With Your Patients on a Human Level as Well as a Healthcare Level

    As a healthcare provider, I had been warned about getting too close to my patients. They told me that it was unprofessional, it would cloud my judgment, it would lead to emotional burnout, and various other reasons. For my first year as a nurse, I took that advice to heart and kept my emotional distance while still doing my best to provide care to the whole patient. Then one night I met Jeff, and everything changed.

    June 03, 2022
    Exercise the Evidence: How I Moved From an Idea to Program Development
    Patient quality of life

    Exercise the Evidence: How I Moved From an Idea to Program Development

    As a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) with a cardiovascular background, I have seen the evidence-based benefits of exercise in a variety of settings. However, several years ago, when I was working as a CNS on an acute inpatient oncology unit, I noticed that exercise was not regularly included in care plans. As I learned from staff, this was done out of concern that patients needed to rest to save their energy. 

    November 19, 2021
    All Patients, Regardless of Insurance, Must Have Access to Cancer Screening
    Cancer screening

    All Patients, Regardless of Insurance, Must Have Access to Cancer Screening

    To increase access to breast and cervical cancer screening, U.S. Congress passed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act of 1990, which led to the creation of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). Because of NBCCEDP, eligible women who are low-income, underserved, and underinsured receive free breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic testing. 

    March 23, 2021
    Social Isolation in Patients With Cancer
    Patient empowerment

    Being Apart Doesn’t Mean Fighting Cancer Alone

    Patients with cancer navigate many isolating experiences: treatment side effects such as alopecia, long stays in the hospital, loss of life’s normalcy, and limited time with friends and family.

    February 02, 2021
    Help AYA Survivors and Patients With Cancer Navigate Infertility
    Patient empowerment

    Help AYA Survivors and Patients With Cancer Navigate Infertility

    In part thanks to advancements in both cancer treatment and supportive care, the number of cancer survivors is expected to reach 22 million by 2030. Adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients aged 15–39 constitute only 5% of new cancer diagnoses but have an 85% relative five-year survival rate. They represent a significant portion of all current and future cancer survivors and have unique needs, including reaching developmental milestones, coping with disruptions in personal and professional relationships, and encountering potential difficulties in family planning.  

    October 02, 2020
    CDC’s Virtual Simulation Guides Patients With Prostate Cancer From Screening to Treatment
    Prostate cancer

    CDC’s Virtual Simulation Guides Patients With Prostate Cancer From Screening to Treatment

    Nurses can now navigate patients with prostate cancer to a virtual simulation for guidance on all aspects of the disease, from screening to treatment. Plus, providers can interact with Nathan, the simulation avatar, in a clinical encounter to help improve their consultation skills when discussing screening and treatment decisions with men. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released this resource after launching its popular simulation for patients with breast cancer.

    September 23, 2020
    Word Choice Matters When Caring for Patients With Cancer
    Patient empowerment

    Word Choice Matters When Caring for Patients With Cancer

    Oncology nurses use many tools to help our patients, but one of the most effective is our words.  However, our terminology may be overwhelming to patients and feel like medical jargon. We also often use terms to describe how a patient is experiencing cancer, reporting adverse events, noncompliance, failing treatment, and palliative care, which can be confusing and misleading.

    September 11, 2020
    New Roles in Oncology Nurse Navigation
    Nurse navigator

    New Roles in Oncology Nurse Navigation

    In the 30 years since its inception in 1990, oncology nurse navigation has continually evolved and grown in response to patient and healthcare needs.

    September 01, 2020
    Managing Cancer-Related PTSD Starts With Acknowledgement
    Patient empowerment

    Managing Cancer-Related PTSD Starts With Acknowledgement

    Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often associated with survivors of military combat or natural disaster, such as refugees or veterans. However, patients with a current or past cancer diagnosis, and their loved ones, are at risk for developing cancer-related PTSD (CR-PTSD).

    July 14, 2020
    Nurses Have a Role and Responsibility in Ending Racism
    Patient advocacy

    Nurses Have a Role and Responsibility in Ending Racism

    “There’s no way you can extricate what’s been going on and the outcomes of the (COVID-19 coronavirus) from the basic racism and social injustice and inequities that have existed in this country for so many years,” American Academy of Nursing Living Legend Catherine Alicia Georges, EdD, RN, FAAN, said in a June 17, 2020, podcast. “The chronicity of racism is the issue.”

    June 26, 2020
    ONS Joins Health Community in Condemning Racism
    Patient advocacy

    ONS Joins Health Community in Condemning Racism

    The death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, spurred a national wave of protest. United in the wake of a global pandemic, people are doing what they feel is necessary to bring social justice and equality changes to the forefront of the American experience. Across the country, people are demanding immediate changes to a biased system. In a formal statement, ONS condemned racism and called for “all of us to commit to an end to hatred, discrimination, and racism in every form.”

    June 10, 2020
    Nurses Can Make a Difference, One Shaved Leg at a Time
    Patient quality of life

    Nurses Can Make a Difference, One Shaved Leg at a Time

    In nursing school and during my first clinical rotations, I was always uncomfortable with performing bed baths. To shut out my discomfort, I would focus on the task at hand, doing my best to ensure the patient’s privacy, keeping the water warm, and only exposing the one body area I was washing at the moment.

    January 14, 2020
    How Does ONS Support Nurses Who Care for Older Adults With Cancer?
    Clinical practice

    How Does ONS Support Nurses Who Care for Older Adults With Cancer?

    By bringing together gero-oncology experts from the ONS membership, staff, and leadership, the ONS geriatric oncology group is identifying gaps in geriatric oncology nursing research and care and connecting ONS members with available resources targeting this vulnerable population. Adult patients with cancer—aged 65 and older—already make up a majority of patients that oncology nurses see. Despite the population’s prevalence throughout cancer institutions and clinics, many nurses are not acutely familiar with the specialized care required to successfully help them navigate their treatment.  
     

    August 06, 2019
    Support and Empower At-Home Caregivers  of Patients With Cancer
    Caregiver support

    Support and Empower At-Home Caregivers of Patients With Cancer

    Finding comfort among loved ones at home can be conducive to healing in all of its dimensions for patients with cancer. For patients in home care, many aspects of treatment and day-to-day medical care are done by loved ones or family members. In the United States, nearly 4.6 million at-home caregivers are tending to patients with cancer. Although many at-home caregivers embrace the responsibility, managing successful oncology care can be a complex burden for family members—many of whom are likely unprepared for the stressors of cancer care.  

    July 02, 2019
    laughing is the best medicine
    Patient empowerment

    Laughing in the Face of Cancer: ONS Member Shares Mother’s Comical Reflections on Being a Patient

    American author Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. . . . I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” Humor has the ability to sooth and heal, and humor often makes grim situations feel brighter and less daunting. Moments affixed with tragedy, grief, loss, and terror can often soften in time, allowing for understanding, acceptance, and sometimes even laughter.

    January 24, 2018
    Coordinated care

    Advocating for Your Patients

    Nurse navigators are advocating for patients in institutions across the country, setting an example for what oncology nurses at any level can do to help their patients through the cancer journey.
    October 04, 2016
    Oncology patient health promotion
    Health promotion

    New AHRQ Toolkit Offers Answers to Promote Patients Involvement

    There is no such thing as a dumb question. This common expression is equally important when visiting your healthcare provider too. Often patients are intimidated, rushed, or unaware of even the questions they should ask.
    February 11, 2016
    End of life (EOL)

    Death With Dignity Provides Options for Patients at the End of Life

    As advances in medicine and technology allow more people to live longer, fuller lives, our already-burdened healthcare system is experiencing unique problems. An aging body is often accompanied by complex, debilitating illnesses. The incapacitating nature of advanced disease coupled with the fears of pain, suffering, and loss of autonomy at the end of life, bring forth the question of quality versus quantity of life. Ubiquitous opinions surrounding ethical and moral decisions make right-to-die issues a controversial but increasingly significant topic.
    February 09, 2016
    Patient empowerment

    Dying, Tea, and Pastries: Death Cafes Invite Often-Shunned Discussions

    It's not a support group. It's not grief counseling. It is, however, a safe place to talk about death and dying. Oh, and there's tea and cookies (or cake!).
    June 10, 2013
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