Why Attending Conferences is Worthwhile for Oncology Nurses
Conferences are where oncology nurses can network, discuss key topics in their field, and hear new updates that will eventually affect their patients. At the 3rd Annual School of Oncology Nursing, we had the chance to talk about what nurses can gain from these conferences with Patricia Jakel, MN, RN, AOCN.
At the 3rd Annual School of Oncology, Oncology Nursing News had the chance to sit down with Patricia Jakel, MN, RN, AOCN, an advance practice nurse at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, to discuss some highlights from the conference, but more importantly, what makes attending conferences like this worthwhile.
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As an oncology nurse for many years, over 30 years, we went many years without many new drugs and now the last 5 years has been staggering. So, even for myself, as I'm really engaged in educating nurses, patients, and other healthcare providers it's a struggle to keep up with it.
I mean, I just sat in the neuroendocrine talk and we took care of a fair amount of (gastrointestinal) patients with neuroendocrine (tumors) in the hospital. They tend to get sick, and hearing about this brand new treatment that just started was really exciting. So, what you can take away from it is the new treatments that are out there, it's a chance to interact with the people giving the medications instead of reading about it in a journal and it's also the networking. The networking is great at these conferences, I really enjoy that part of it.
