Nurse Pride

This letter from the Chairman and CEO of Oncology Nursing News^® gives an overview of the contents of the June 2018 print issue of the magazine.

May was Oncology Nurses’ Month, and while nurses showed their support for their profession through celebrations in their workplaces and on social media, nurse pride was never more evident than at the CURE^® Extraordinary Healer^® Award for Oncology Nursing event on May 17. Held in conjunction with the Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS) 43rd Annual Congress, the celebration highlighted three nurses who were nominated by their peers for going above and beyond in their chosen profession.

An audience of 1000 cheered Christine Stone, MSN, RN, OCN, of the Life with Cancer program at Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Leesburg, Virginia, as they heard her colleague, Deborah A. Boyle, MSN, RN, AOCNS, FAAN, describe how Stone helps patients transcend the chaos of cancer through her guidance and advocacy. This month’s issue is dedicated to Stone, her fellow finalists, and all those oncology nurses who do such important work.

In this issue, Oncology Nursing News^® previews the forthcoming publication of a complete update of a classic professional book, Chemotherapy and Biotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice, 4th Edition. The revamped and renamed volume, which will be known as the first edition of the Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice, incorporates the rapidly growing field of immunotherapy, as well as chemotherapy, molecularly targeted anticancer agents, and hormonal therapy.

Editor in Chief Lisa Schulmeister addresses the opioid crisis in the United States and its effect on the ability and willingness of the cancer care ecosystem to support the use of opioids for patients with cancer. She describes the need to enlighten legislators that, when used appropriately and responsibly, opioids remain a safe treatment for many types of cancer-related pain, and that current legislative efforts may have a detrimental effect on patients who might benefit.

Also in this issue, a nurse navigator encounters health illiteracy, and shares how she came to understand and overcome her patient’s barrier to care. Another nurse describes her experience with process improvement at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and explains how nurses can create new roles within their institutions if they see an opportunity to improve patient care.

This issue contains coverage of posters and sessions presented at the ONS Congress. One article describes how nurses should approach patient care before and after immunotherapy. The Clinical Insights section reviews sessions and findings about cancer in adolescents and young adults, LGBT sensitivity among nurses, and managing treatments and adverse effects of those treatments in patients with liver cancer, leukemia, and ovarian cancer. On a related note, Elaine DeMeyer offers advice for presenters who would like to turn their presentations into publishable works.

Other articles cover drumming for breast cancer and its therapeutic potential, the burden of financial toxicity, a recent pilot study which examined patients’ perspectives to help nurses tailor strategies to assist patients in coping with procedures related to caring for their ports, and more.

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Mike Hennessy, Sr

Chairman and CEO