Oncology Nursing Society 36th Annual Congress Boston Massachusetts April 28 - May 1, 2011

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Jocelyn Mitchell
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1 Oncology Nursing Society 36th Annual Congress Boston Massachusetts April 28 - May 1, 2011 June 2011 ONS Congress 2011 started off with a fife and drum parade marching ONS President Carlton Brown and Board Members up the aisle to the stage. PACONS member Ginny Martin walked at the head of the parade with Carlton, marking the end of her term as ONS Board member. All Philadelphia Area and New Jersey Chapters were proud to see one of our own in the parade and everyone gave her a loud cheer. Attending Congress is always exciting and exhausting. It is a way to connect with other oncology nurses, have fun with friends and coworkers, and learn what new treatment options will become available for out patients. Along with being educational, Congress always seems to enlighten and inspire us. Patient inspiration was provided by the opening ceremony speaker Charlie Lustman. Charlie is a survivor of sarcoma of his jaw. He sang original songs including Made Me Nuclear talking about his radiation treatments and Chemo Brain about his chemotherapy treatment. Charlie made us laugh and cry during his presentation. He has nuclear level energy and had us standing and clapping early in the morning! Then, he sang a new ballad he wrote the night before about Oncology Nurses. Not a dry eye in the place. We were all reminded of the impact we have on our patients with each encounter, no matter how short or long. Oral Chemotherapy is becoming more common and there was an excellent session presented. Patient compliance is an important issue with oral agents but the speakers reminded us that compliance is an issue with all oral medications. Oncology nurses have concerns about oral chemotherapy because we have been used to giving the therapy in a clinic or outpatient setting. We know the patient received the medication! We now have to trust and educate our patients thoroughly to do this at home and find ways to monitor and document side effects, compliance and safety. There will be much more to come on this topic. Inspiration and admiration for our oncology nurses continued with the 2011 CURE Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing. Oncology Nursing Society 36th Annual Congress Camp Oasis 3 Chef Night 4 Unique Summer Camp Opportunity 5 Editor s Notes 8 Presidents Message 7 Upcoming Events 9 Special points of interest: Oncology Nursing Society 36TH Annual Congress Unique Summer Camp Opportunity Upcoming Events

2 Oncology Nursing Society 36th Annual Congress cont d There were 5 finalists who were nominated by patients or family members. The 5 letters were read by the authors and it was a good thing they put tissues in our bags. The winner was an oncology nurse from rural Texas. She is the only Oncology nurse in the hospital and treated patients on long distance orders from an Oncologist in the city 2 hours away. Presenting the award was Cynthia Nixon, best known as Miranda from Sex in the City. She is a breast cancer survivor and gave a wonderful speech about the care she received from her own oncology nurses. After the program she was nice enough to take pictures with us! The ONS Certification Breakfast speaker brought laughter and tears as well early Friday AM. She was wonderful and well worth getting up early for. (Some nurses were up an hour early to watch the Royal Wedding. Guilty!) Karyn Buxman, RN, CSP, CPAE gave the talk: Amazed and Amused. Surviving and Thriving. She spoke from the heart about her own life in times of sadness and happiness. Everyone could relate to her and she kept the crowd engaged and amused! Go to KarynBuxman.com for more laughter! Congress was busy and there were so many interesting sessions. The most inspiring nurse gave the 2011 Mara Mogenson Flagherty Memorial Lecture: Nurse Exemplars in Psychosocial Care at the End of Life. She told stories of palliative care nurses from around the country and around the world. Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, CHPN, worked to develop and then taught the EPIC course. She traveled with other nurses to these countries to train them in palliative and end of life care. She traveled to Africa, Asia and the Middle East to train their nurses. The areas she went to were not the most modern and there were definitely challenges faced. These nurses were dedicated to providing end of life care to their patients and grateful for the course and even the binders! She related stories of nurses bringing about changes in attitudes about death and dying in the Veterans Hospitals in the United States. This lecture was given Saturday morning and was a very inspiring way to start the day. Healthcare Professional need to go. ONS Congress is never disappointing. There are exciting and inspirational talks and many give aways. There were many raffles for ipads, with coffee, snacks and information provided in the Exhibit Hall. There were about 4000 oncology nurses attending the conference from the United States and around the world. The posters were exhibited outside the Exhibit Hall and authors were on hand to answer questions. Nurses interacted, visited, talked, laughed and exchanged information and updates on each others lives. Evening talks and dinners were well attended and kept every one busy from 6:30 AM to after 9 at night. Exhausting, exhilarating, exciting, inspiring and FUN! New Orleans here we come! Don t miss it. Remember there are many scholarships available from ONS. Barb Matthews, RN PACONS President Page 2

the opportunity to offer this special day free of charge.

3 Camp Oasis On Sunday June 12 th Camp Oasis held its fourth annual camping day at Camp Inawendiwin. The South Jersey Chapter Oncology Nursing Society pitched the idea for the camp at a board meeting four years ago, put together a proposal, and received a $2,000 grant to start Camp Oasis giving them the opportunity to offer this special day free of charge. Camp Oasis brings together around 40 children, ages 8-16, from throughout Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Ocean counties who all have one thing in common-a loved one with cancer. Most of the afflicted family members are parents, although some are siblings or grandparents. The children are referred to the camp by local oncology nurses in South Jersey with the goal of helping them understand and deal with their anxiety as well as enjoy a relaxing day of fun. The turnout this year was great! As the children arrived and stepped out of their limousines, you could see how excited they were for the full day to come. The activities this year included face painting, yoga, archery, crafts, sports, scrapbooking, and huge BBQ. The highlight of the camp was the pool party complete with dancing, hula hoops, water ice, and a DJ donated by a Rutgers University student. Also available are age appropriate group coping sessions run by a social worker, as well as journaling sessions in which the children write a poem to their family member. The camp could not run without volunteers each year, most of them being nurses and social workers. Thanks everyone for such a successful and inspiring day! Janelle Grosse, RN Page 3

GUEST CHEF NIGHT AT THE RONALD McDONALD HOUSE On February 16, 2009 the Philadelphia Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society along with the staff of the Abramson Cancer Center joined forces to host

That night with the culinary guidance of Rick Link, our chef, we successfully offered the parents a hot meal, a warm heart, and a listening ear.

4 GUEST CHEF NIGHT AT THE RONALD McDONALD HOUSE On February 16, 2009 the Philadelphia Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society along with the staff of the Abramson Cancer Center joined forces to host Guest Chef Night at the Ronald McDonald House. Guest Chef Night is a volunteer program which provides dinner to the parents of ill children. That night with the culinary guidance of Rick Link, our chef, we successfully offered the parents a hot meal, a warm heart, and a listening ear. The experience proved to be enlightening and gratifying to all involved. The parents had one less thing to worry about and we gained a greater perspective of how small sacrifices have a profound effect towards the greater good. On behalf of the Ronald McDonald House, the parents, and the Philadelphia Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society Board, we graciously thank all involved. Clarice Maggio, RN Page 4

Unique Summer Camp Opportunity! The American Cancer Society's Camp Can-Do, which is for children with cancer, is in need of 2-3 camp nurses or PA's for our week 2 session Aug 6-13.

5 Unique Summer Camp Opportunity! The American Cancer Society's Camp Can-Do, which is for children with cancer, is in need of 2-3 camp nurses or PA's for our week 2 session Aug On August 6 at 2pm you would arrive at camp for orientation and the campers arrive on Sunday August 7 at 1:00pm. The campers will leave at 10am Saturday August 13 and at that time, if all cleanup is completed, you are able to leave too. Camp is held at Gretna Glen Campground in Mt. Gretna, PA. What does it take to be a nurse or PA at Camp Can-Do? We need RN's or PA's that have a pediatric oncology background or at a minimum an oncology background. A lot of what is needed is Band-Aids, ice packs, medication administration. There is a doctor on site 24/7 for camp. There are approximately 40 children that come to camp. Some are in treatment, but most are post treatment. There is also a day at Hershey park - we will provide a ticket and meals for you while you are there. You are also welcome to join the kids in the activities that they choose, from swimming, arts and crafts, Zumba, outdoor cooking - just to name a few. Please contact Cindy Gebhard for an application at Cindy.Gebhard@cancer.org Page 5

6 Congrats! Cynthia Briola is serving as the Radiation Special Interest Group (SIG) Coordinator from New Members: Karen Abbas RN, MSN, AOCN is an Educational Director at Meniscus Educational Institutes. Annie Berkowitz RN, BSN, OCN is a Staff Nurse at HUP. Eileen Malloy RN, BSN, OCN is an infusion nurse at Cantor Biermann and Fellin Private Practice and also a member of our sister chapter Bucks-Mont. Barbara Ambacher RN, BS, CPHQ is an Appeals Nurse at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Jodie Brown RN, BSN, OCN is a Senior Oncology Field Nurse Specialist for southeastern Home Health Services. Page 6

7 President s Message I can t believe it is June already and one year has flown by! Here we are ready for summer again. At the June 15th meeting we will be announcing the new President Elect and two Directors at Large. Please give them your support. We have such a great team involved with PACONS and on the board that these newsletters are a great way to recognize them and thank them for all they do. Much thanks to Trish Gambino for her great job on the nominating committee and getting everyone involved. She is an awesome and crucial member on the Board. Ginger Girard and her committee have done an amazing job with our educational programs, which we now have planned up until next fall. Stay tuned for some new opportunities: smaller meetings offering CEU s! Ginna Deitrick is working with ONS to put more of our membership information online. Janelle Grosse thanks for the Newsletters! Sue Walton keeps our facebook page and virtual community up to date. Pat Wintrode for her work as Treasurer and Nicole Ross as Secretary. And once again thanks to Sandy Slaughter for keeping us organized. Keep up the good work! Clarice Maggio has finished her term as Director at Large and we will miss her dearly. She has been a very involved member of PACONS and has done great work with the Ronald McDonald House feeding families dealing with childhood cancers. We need to focus on recruiting new members for the upcoming year and helping everyone become more involved. There are many opportunities available to us in our are but we are always looking for something new. Please let the board members know if you have any ideas. Have a fun and safe summer. See you in the fall! Barb Matthews, RN Page 7

8 Editor s Notes EDITOR S NOTES Welcome Summer! It s hard to believe that summer has arrived so soon, but a lot of exciting things have happened in the past 5 months. We had Congress in Boston the last weekend in April as well as new ONS director elections. The Ronald Macdonald volunteer night took place in February and had a great turnout. Thank you to all who contributed to this newsletter. I have gotten tremendous support from my co-workers as well as other nurses in the Philadelphia area. There is so much we do for others at work, that I thought it would be appropriate to focus on some activities we participate in outside of work and highlight some of the amazing nurses in our area. Whether it be attending an educational opportunity for our own professional advancement or donating a Saturday afternoon to spend time with patients and families, these tasks deserve recognition. There is so much to get involved in locally and so many opportunities at our fingertips. I also would like to take some time in this newsletter to encourage nurses to join PACONS and think about becoming involved. There are so many opportunities that become available to members and it's a convenient way of networking and advancing your career. There are monthly educational dinners, web chats online, traveling opportunities, as well as job postings and publication/research opportunities. The nurses involved with PACONS are all currently working in different areas of the oncology field and are great resources. There are many hot topics in oncology currently and many changes to come in the near future; it s nice to become acquainted with other local oncology nurses and relate to one another on so many levels. It has become easier to join PACONS and become involved since our website launched and is frequently updated. Feel free to check out our virtual community and think about joining the great group we have in place already! Thanks so much to all who contributed and enjoy the newsletter! Janelle Grosse, RN Editor Page 8

9 Barbara Matthews, President Ginna Deitrick, President Elect Margaret Rummel, Director at Large Maryanne Redlinger, Director at Large Nicole Ross, Secretary Patricia Wintrode, Treasurer Virginia Girard, Education Program Patricia Gambino, Nomination Committee Janelle Grosse, Newsletter Susan Walton, Face book & Virtual Community PACONS NEWS Mission Statement The mission statement of PACONS NEWS is intended to compliment the mission of PACONS and ONS. The overall goal is to promote excellence in Oncology Nursing. PACONS NEWS is a quarterly publication of PACONS, a chartered chapter of ONS. It is intended to meet informational and learning needs of its readers. It is provided as a membership benefit to members of PACONS. Informational needs include articles written about members, news items, job information, and information about upcoming PACONS activities, as well as other continuing educational opportunities. Learning needs will be determined by members and the editorial board. Topics will be selected from the annual membership survey. We re on Face book! Please consider submitting an article or suggestion today to plainb@verizon.net 2011 ONS Events Ongoing web tutorials and dinner information available at ONSedge.com OCN Test Dates are as follows: -August November 1-30 Upcoming Events September 10, 2011 Undie Run for more information contact Maryann Redlinger September 14, 2011 PACONS dinner meeting, Topic: CLL, RSVP by September 9, to paconscc@gmail.com August 6-13, 2011 Unique Summer Camp Opportunity! 2011 AOCNP Test Dates are as follows: -February 1-December 31 *Please note all application deadlines and details can be found on the oncc.org website

Radiation Special Interest Group Meeting Saturday, September 8, Cynthia J. Briola RN OCN CBCN Radiation SIG Coordinator

Radiation Special Interest Group Meeting Saturday, September 8, 2012 Cynthia J. Briola RN OCN CBCN Radiation SIG Coordinator 2011-2013 Introduction to the radiation SIG Leadership Virtual Community Newsletter