41st ONS Congress Showcases Resources and Insights for Today's Oncology Nurse

Oncology Nursing Society Congress

Each year, around 3000 oncology nurses convene for the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Congress. This year, the meeting will be held in San Antonio, Texas April 28-May 1, 2016. Session tracks will be offered for nurses in clinical practice, managers/educators, advanced practice nurses, and nurses involved in or interested in oncology nursing research.

A team of editors from Oncology Nursing News and CURE magazine will be in San Antonio covering sessions and interviewing nurses about their research of interest to oncology professionals and to the patients and survivors they tweet.

This year, selected Congress sessions may be viewed remotely. Live streaming begins at 10:45 am EST on Thursday, April 28, with a session on new approaches to symptom management that emphasize anticipating the use of evidence-based interventions before a patient’s symptoms actually show up and need to be managed. ONS Putting Evidence into Practice (PEP) resources for anxiety, depression, sleep and fatigue will be showcased.

Remote streams will continue each day throughout the Congress, including on Sunday, when Anne Katz, PhD, RN, will be discussing “The Elephant in the Room: Tackling Tough Issues With Your Patients.” Remote viewing offers nurses a way of obtaining new and updated information in the field of oncology nursing without the need to travel; however, continuing nursing education credit is only awarded to nurses attending in person. More information about remote viewing may be found on the ONS website, www.congress.ons.org.

More Oncology Nursing Highlights

The keynote speaker this year is the author and humorist Ron Culberson, MSW, CSP, CPAE, whose latest book is Do it Well, Make it Fun: The Key to Success in Life, Death, and Almost Everything in Between. The Mara Mogensen Flaherty Memorial Lecture will be live-streamed on Saturday beginning at 8:15 AM and given by Theresa Brown, RN, author, New York Times columnist, and a leading voice on healthcare from the nurse’s point of view.

Attendees will also have an opportunity to view research posters from their peers during early morning poster sessions Friday and Saturday that will include “e-posters” on topics ranging from “Oncology Nursing Speed Dating — Finding the Right Path for You!” to research on how new therapies are being deployed in the clinic, managing immunotherapy-related adverse events, and making patient education materials more accessible.

ONS again will be hosting a variety of activities in the Learning Hall, including a Best Practice Exchange and ones focused on caregiver interventions, getting through the first year, using social media to improve your reach, and practice challenges in rural areas.

Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing

This year marks this event’s 10th anniversary celebrating oncology nurses who have dedicated their careers to helping patients with cancer, their families and their oncology coworkers. The event, sponsored by CURE magazine, gives readers a unique opportunity to honor and nominate a special oncology nurse through an essay that describes the compassion, expertise, and helpfulness exhibited by their nominee.

From approximately 50 nominations this year, Carmi Fazio of Molina Healthcare in Oak Brook, Illinois; Diana Gordon of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Lynne Malestic of Eisenhower Lucy Curci Cancer Center in Rancho Mirage, California, are the finalists to be chosen as this year’s Extraordinary Healer event which will be held April 28 from 6:00-7:30 PM at the Henry B. Gonzalez Conference Center, site of the ONS Congress (be sure to follow #HealerAward on twitter). The special guest speaker will be Eric Stonestreet of TV’s Modern Family. Eric is an actor, cancer advocate, and spokesperson for Ready. Raise. Rise., a Bristol-Myers Squibb program dedicated to raising awareness and educating the public about immuno-oncology research.

CURE will also be live-streaming the event on their Facebook page on Thursday night.

Be sure to visit our ONS Congress highlights page which will be updated regularly throughout the Congress and afterwards with articles and videos from the conference, and follow #ONSCongress for live tweets throughout Congress.

And, on Tuesday May 3, at 9 PM EST, we’ll be recapping with CURE some of the important takeaways from the ONS Congress — follow and join the chat at #CUREConnect.

Lisa Schulmeister, MN, RN, ACNS-BC, FAAN is an oncology nursing consultant and editor-in-chief of Oncology Nursing News.