The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) launched its inaugural ONS Hackathon™ on November 9, 2020, a competition designed to identify innovative ways to address challenging issues in the delivery of quality cancer care. Meghan O. Coleman, DNP, CRNP, and Alison McDaniel, BSN, RN, OCN^®’s winning project, Evidence-Based Quality Understanding in Pathology, provided ways to solve the problem of unequal access to biomarker and other genetic and genomic testing.

Cancer treatment often causes symptoms that result in treatment delays and unplanned care, which adversely affects patient outcomes, healthcare costs, and patient satisfaction. To decrease those possibilities, the ONS Center for Innovation launched ONS On-Call™, an oncology-specific decision support tool to guide standardized, evidence-based symptom assessment and leverage ONS’s proprietary evidence-based resources for patient-reported symptoms. Designed by nurses, the cloud-hosted tool ensures best practices in the clinic and institution by providing nurses with guided, comprehensive, and evidence-based assessments that illuminate the causative factors of patients’ symptoms and experience.

Nurses serve a critical and proven role in reducing the burden of cancer and improving the lives of patients with cancer. Yet, for millions of people across the globe, access to health care is not a given, and nurses don’t have the educational and occupational support to perform to their full abilities.

Resources that can be used by nurses and other oncology healthcare professionals, patients, and policymakers to improve the care of patients with cancer, were recently launched by the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) in its first set of five systematically reviewed clinical practice ONS Guidelines™ for managing cancer treatment-related side effects.

Exemplary oncology nurses stand behind all of cancer’s treatments, supporting patients through side effects, shouldering their burdens and concerns, and advocating for quality care. Each year with its series of awards, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) recognizes just a few of the outstanding oncology professionals who have dedicated their lives to patient care.

The Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS’s) books, journals, and news magazine have a long history of industry recognition, receiving numerous awards for their commitment to excellence in publishing. This month, Association Media and Publishing, Association Trends, and Communication Concepts, Inc., added new distinctions to the ONS publishing portfolio.

Ryan Conover, the Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS’s) director of information services, was a finalist for the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Year. He and 17 other professionals, across five industry categories, were recognized at a virtual awards gala on July 15. Conover was also a finalist in 2016.

Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) has updated its Oncology Nursing Society Seal of Approval™ program, which provides additional benefits to companies interested in promoting nurse and patient support materials. Companies that submit materials and are approved can prominently display the Oncology Nursing Society Seal of Approval logo on marketing collateral for distribution to nurses and patients.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic forced oncology nurses to navigate abnormal circumstances, both at home and at work. Despite facing similar limitations, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) created a brand-new learning experience to give oncology nurses expert education, networking opportunities, and access to industry representatives in the wake of canceled in-person events. This September, ONS will host the inaugural ONS Bridge™, the most comprehensive conference dedicated to oncology nurses.

In honor of Oncology Nursing Month, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) announced today the two awardees selected in the Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Oncology. The Challenge was designed with the goal of accelerating innovation in improving oncology care, including prevention, early detection, treatment, and care for cancer survivors. 

Oncology Nursing Society member Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, director of the division of nursing research and education at City of Hope in Duarte, CA, was one of 14 recipients of an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) special award in April 2020. She received the Walther Cancer Foundation Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Endowed Award and Lecture for her work in palliative care.

Chemotherapy is one of the most successful forms of cancer treatment available, but it’s frequently thought of as deadly and dangerous because of its hazardous chemical properties and potential for severe side effects in patients. What’s often left out of the chemotherapy conversation is the danger it poses to healthcare workers handling the hazardous medications. In two new articles published in the Oncology Nursing Forum, Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) member AnnMarie Walton, PhD, MPH, RN, OCN®, CHES, assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Duke University in Durham, NC, helped healthcare professionals understand the risks and needs for proper safe handling for chemotherapy. 

Oncology nurses were represented at a March 18, 2020, White House briefing with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other members of the U.S. Coronavirus Task Force. Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN, Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) chief executive officer, was invited to attend the meeting along with other nursing association leaders to discuss the health and safety of oncology nurses and the patients they care for during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.

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.

As a trailblazer and pioneer in palliative care and end-of-life research, ONS member Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, director of the division of nursing research and education at City of Hope in Duarte, CA, has improved the quality of life for countless patients with cancer throughout the world. In recognition of her vast contributions to oncology nursing science and patient-centered care, Ferrell was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest medical honors in the United States, on October 21, 2019. She joins the ranks of only 2,200 other medical professionals to be appointed to the Academy.

Oncology nursing-led research is the engine that drives practice change when caring for patients with cancer. As a standard-bearer of oncology nursing research and a veteran of nursing research publications, Debra Lyon, RN, PhD, FNP-BC, FAAN, will bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the Oncology Nursing Forum (ONF), becoming the research journal’s sixth editor effective January 1, 2020.

Last week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released its 2019 safe handling standards. Although oncology nurses contributed to the expert panel, ONS does not endorse the ASCO standards because they differ from ONS guidelines and recommendations and guidelines from national and governmental organizations in several key ways. As an oncology nurse administering hazardous drugs, here’s what you need to know to keep yourself, your colleagues, and your patients safe.