President s Message I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE. 1 President s Message. 2 Upcoming Events. 3 Linda Wall Retiring By: Donna Clark, BSN, RN, OCN

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1 SPRING 2017 Chapter Leadership: President: Donna Clark President s Message By: Donna Clark, BSN, RN, OCN President Elect: Rhonda Campbell (roclucy@gmail.com) Treasurer: Wanda Greeley (wanda.greeley@shhpens.org) Secretary: Linda Wall (lwall@shhpens.org) Program Chair: Lois Gaston (lgaston@shhpens.org) Newsletter: Rene Moses (rmoses@shhpens.org) Nominating Chair: Beth Matthews (syconurse@hotmail.com) I NSIDE T HIS I SSUE 1 President s Message Officers Information 2 Upcoming Events Monthly meetings 3 Linda Wall Retiring Our Community By Your Side Article May Meeting Invite Happy Spring Northwest Florida ONS Chapter! I hope that each of you had the opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones over the Easter holiday. Easter for me is a time of reflection to look back at the challenges, failures, and successes done, and its chapters that God will yet help me write. As your newly elected 2017 NW Florida ONS Chapter Prez, I truly do welcome your input into what you would like this chapter do and become to serve you, its members. Call me, me, or text me: my door is always open to you as needed. My is lynnm74177@att.net; phone I m humbled to be your Prez again, as during my 2014 term, I was sidelined by my own successful cancer treatments. As we embark thru a new year, remember that life moves quickly and each day we have is precious. I entreat each of you to reach out to do something during this year for a fellow oncology nurse you see everyday at work. Invite her to come with you to our monthly chapter meetings. We have such diversity represented in our chapter meeting of nurses whose professional and life experience is so varied. Chapter meetings occur on the 2nd Monday of month from 6pm 7:30pm. By attending Chapter Meetings, you network with your peers, learn of the latest drugs & symptom management, and eat at Pensacola s finest venues for Free! Whatever your work setting is, reach out of your comfort zone this year to do something good everyday for someone else. Proverbs says, Iron sharpens iron, and one sharpens the wits of another. We all work toward the same professional goal of becoming better oncology nurses to serve our patients the best way we can, and for me, ONS is my cornerstone that helps me accomplish my goals of providing the best quality care my patients need and certainly deserve. Thanks y all in advance for what you ll contribute this year to our nursing profession. God bless each of you in the work you do. Thank you for voting for me and I look forward to serving as your Chapter President. Each of our our 2017 Leadership Team members wish you all much success in the coming year. Northwes Florida Cha 1

2 UPCOMING EVENTS MAY MONTHLY MEETING PLACE: FISH HOUSE TIME: 6 PM Date: May 8, 2017 JUNE MONTHLY MEETING PLACE: TBA TIME: 6 PM Date: June 12, 2017 JULY MONTHLY MEETING PLACE: TBA TIME: 6 PM Date: July 10, 2017 M ONTHLY M EETINGS BUSINESS MEETING Begins at 6pm PROGRAM Begins at completion of Business meeting and placing of dinner orders, usually around 630 pm. DETAILS Our chapter meetings are typically at a local restaurant on the second Monday of the month. Drug reps typically sponsor meetings and dinner is provided, therefore, no CEUs given. Remember to bring canned goods for the Food pantry Remember your soda can pull tabs for the Ronald McDonald House Please bring door prizes this month for the raffle. We are doing the raffle quarterly instead of monthly due to low attendance and lack of door prize donations. ONS members are free by signing roster and providing ONS member number Visitors (Non-ONS members) are FREE at first meeting and $15 after that. Cash or checks made out to NWFLONS accepted. Receipts available on request. PLEASE. It is important to RSVP if you plan on Attending the monthly meeting. You can RSVP by clicking on the link located on the virtual website or by contacting Lois Gaston, our new Program Chairperson It is very important to have an accurate count in order for the rep paying for our dinner to keep within her manadated guidelines. If you RSVP and are unable to attend, you need to contact Lois Gaston to let her know so the count can be adjusted appropriately Northwes Florida Cha 2

3 Are you interested in winning A free ONS membership? Every month we have drawings for door prizes. Theses door prizes are donations from you the members We ask that you donate an item or two on your birthday month to be used as a door prize Tickets for the chance drawings at the monthly meetings are $1 each or 6 for $5 At the end of the year the committee draws tickets for free memberships based on the funds raised over the year through our door prize drawings. Happy Retirement Linda Linda has been a very active member in our local ONS chapter over the many years she has been a member. We will miss her presence, her dedication and the many hours she has devoted to this chapter most recently as Program Chair and committee Member for Monica Fox Symposium. We wish you the best, Linda in your retirement. Enjoy the sleeping in, the peaceful days, time with family, along with the other things you plan to do. Thanks for all you have done for this chapter and the Monica Fox Symposium. We look forward to your continued participation in our chapter as our Chapter Secretary. You can win a free membership by purchasing your door prize tickets at the monthly meetings. In order to have a door prize drawing we need you to donate an item or two on your birthday month. You could be the lucky one at the end of the year to win a free membership Another way to receive a free membership is to volunteer to serve as one of our board members Northwes Florida Cha 3

4 More from Our Chapter President on Our Community Ø Thank you Rene Moses for the many hours you spend on crafting this newsletter. Our President-Elect Rhonda Campbell will be attending a 3day ONS Leadership Weekend this July learning how to better serve you members. Ø Linda Wall our Chapter Secretary is certainly a cornerstone of our chapter. Ø Past Prez Beth Matthews works very hard in many roles in our chapter including our social media guru, and just started a new job as the oncology nurse navigator for West Florida Hospital. Ø Many congratulations go out to our Chapter Leadership Team members Wanda Greeley and Lois Gaston on their employer granting them full scholarships to attend the upcoming 42 nd ONS Congress in Denver on May 3-7, 2017! We look forward to hearing about their experiences upon their return. If you can t attend ONS Congress, 22 sessions will be available online, and you can always watch some of the 2016 ONS Congress archived sessions for CEU s. For more info, check it all out at Monday, August 8, 2016 To: ONS Chapter leaders in Florida & southeastern states Northwes Florida Cha 4

5 John C. Maxwell once said, Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another. This quote holds true for each of us as we all have opportunities each day to lead and help influence others in a good way. With my own dual citizenship as a cancer survivor/oncology nurse, I can empathize & help others as they navigate thru their own cancer journey because I am a member of their own cancer club. I was recently surprisingly blessed as just a regular, everyday, ordinary gal to have a snippet of that story about my journey published in the upcoming Spring 2017 issue of Cure Magazine below:. By Your Side: Oncology Nurses Provide Care, Inspiration With help from the ONS Foundation, oncology nurses provide care that merges education with inspiration. ---Article Written By Christopher Pirschel, ONS Staff Writer in a Joint Venture between ONS Foundation and Cure Magazine. PUBLISHED: APRIL 17, 2017 WHEN IT COMES TO the cancer journey, it s almost impossible not to have a tale to tell. In some instances, you may be the protagonist, overcoming insurmountable odds and waking each day to slay the dragon. Sometimes you are a companion on the adventure, supporting and lifting up the hero when times are tough. Some individuals may play the wise sage who offers guidance and instruction to intrepid adventurers. And others may find themselves all three. Northwes Florida Cha 5

6 There are stories everywhere, and as examples, two oncology nurses have shared their experiences of inspiration and commitment to cancer care. With support from their patients, colleagues and professional organizations, these nurses have grown and evolved in order to provide the best possible care. Thanks to the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Foundation, each was given an opportunity to attend the annual ONS Congress, a conference that brings together oncology nurses from across the country and world to further their education so they can continue to provide high-quality, cutting-edge care. With help from donations, the foundation provides such opportunities and others through awards, grants and scholarships. From Accountant to Oncology Nurse When ONS member Maggie Smith, D.N.P., M.S.N., RN, OCN, was a child, she was good with numbers and wanted to be an accountant. For her, the thought of poring over ledgers or balancing the books seemed like a golden dream. But her father saw something different. It was actually my dad who encouraged me to go into nursing, Smith remembers. I went into oncology because I saw great opportunities, my friends were encouraging me and I always enjoyed a challenge. Oncology was all new to me, and I was intrigued by it. I ve been here for 17 years, and I can tell you honestly that there s nothing else like it. Smith had no idea that, one day, she would accompany her father on his own journey with non-small cell lung cancer. I went from being a nurse on the outside to a daughter who had to care for her father with this terminal disease, Smith remembers. It brought my dad and I even closer together and we were already close. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his battle. But it was an entirely different perspective for me, and through it all I gained an even greater appreciation for patients and their families. Smith takes inspiration from her experiences and continually seeks new opportunities to grow as an oncology nurse, including through her foundation-sponsored attendance at the ONS Congress. I was able to use the educational sessions to become aware of the latest and greatest advancements in terms of diagnostics and medicine, Smith notes. It helped me become more aware of side-effect management and preventive care for my patients. My time at congress even helped me develop my own evidence-based research, where I learned about train-the-trainer programs that could help educate my colleagues. Northwes Florida Cha 6

7 Smith has embraced her experiences in oncology. She makes a point of celebrating victories with her patients, and she strives to learn and listen as they progress through treatment and into survivorship. Even then, she and her patients exchange updates about major life events such as birth announcements and anniversaries. (Maggie Smith is a newly elected member of the National ONS Board of Directors.) Dual Citizenship: A Patient and Nurse Oncology nurse and ONS member Donna Clark, RN, B.S.N., OCN, always knew she wanted to help people. Growing up, she figured she was destined to become a nurse. Her experiences and personal triumphs have only further confirmed that dedication. I truly believe God placed, deep in my heart, the desire to be an oncology nurse, Clark says. During her nursing years, she says, I lost my father to lung cancer, my mother to gastric cancer, and I was diagnosed with advanced endometrial cancer in I had to take a year off from working as a clinical oncology nurse to do all the radiation, chemotherapy and surgeries necessary for a successful remission. I think of myself as dual citizen, as both nurse and patient. While Clark was away from her job, many new treatments, medications and therapies were approved. She wanted to close the educational gap that had opened during her absence, and she looked to the ONS Foundation for help. I couldn t afford to attend ONS s annual congress. The 2016 ONS Foundation Congress scholarship helped me get there, Clark notes. The scholarship netted me invaluable opportunities to connect with my fellow nurses and to bring evidence-based practices back home to educate patients and colleagues at my institution. Clark has a special connection to her patients. During her own cancer treatment, some of them reached out to Clark s supervisor. They sent me music, flowers and encouraging notes, she remembers. One of the best parts of nursing is just that the relationships with those we care for return it to us when it s most needed. That makes me want to strive to become a better nurse for them and my future patients. See more at: Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) quoted me from this article above for their 4/19/17 #WednesdayWisdom Twitter social media page BELOW: Northwes Florida Cha 7