#whentostop

When do you stop fighting? Join this ONS Connect tweet chat at noon EST on prolonged cancer treatment and palliative care with former NOEP staffer Carol Cannon, BSN, RN, OCN!

https://twitter.com/OncologyNursing/status/499935709747486720

Words of Wisdom from ONS Congress

I am a huge fan of quotes. In fact, throughout high school and college, I used to keep journals packed with inspirational quotes, images, or dialogue from books I read, movies or TV shows I watched, or magazine clippings. I would occasionally go through these journals when I needed some life guidance.

I was fortunate enough to attend this years Oncology Nursing Society’s 39th Annual Congress in Anaheim, Ca, which was packed full of journal-worthy quotes. They spanned a wide range of topics, from nursing leadership to overcoming a cancer diagnosis and treatment, to the latest cancer nursing research. Below is just a taste. And if you attended Congress or not, keep the positive oncology nursing energy going. Increase your knowledge to improve your patient care or become certified with the help of NOEP’s Competence in Cancer Care free online CE series.

“I don’t know if we can have algorithms for cancer screening and treatment in older adults. It needs to be personalized.” – Diane Cope, during the Pre-Congress session, Controversial Issues in the Care of the Older Adult with Cancer: Implications for Education, Practice, and Research

“Palliative care nurses show lower levels of stress and burnout compared to oncology nurses.” -Penny Demaskos, during the Pre-Congress session Compassion Fatigue: Building Resilience in Oncology Nurses

“Individuals develop resilience by experiencing and processing stress, rather than through avoidance.” -Penny Demaskos

“My life is my work.” -ONS Outgoing President Mary Gullatte quoted Gandhi as she reflected on her 2 years with ONS

“Someone on the bottom of the totem pole can still be a leader. Leadership is the process of positively influencing others.” -Devon Harris, keynote speaker, 3-time Captain of the Jamaican bobsled team and inspiration for the Disney movie Cool Runnings

“You are either green and growing, or ripe and rotting.” -Devon Harris

“True power is the art of making other people powerful.” -Devon Harris

“Guided imagery used preoperatively saves money and reduces morbidity and mortality.” -Lourdes Lorenz, Holistic Nursing Modalities: Merging Research into Everyday Clinical Practice

“Vulva is my favorite word and every chance I get I manage to get it in somewhere.” -Dr. Anne Katz on discussing sexuality with her adolescent patients, Sexuality and Cancer for the Frontline Nurse

“The bar can never be set high enough when it comes to patient care.” -Chuck Wilson at the CURE Extraordinary Healer Award Dinner

“Be the nurse that does one more thing, one more time.” -Josh Sundquist, paralympian and survivor of osteosarcoma, speaking at the ONCC Recognition Breakfast

“Research shows that 88% of older adults would rather die than take therapy that causes cognitive impairment.” -Dr. Arti Hurria, Using Geriatric Metrics to Improve Care of the Older Adult with Cancer

–By Carol Cannon, BSN, RN, OCN

Yee Haw! Cowtown is Comin’ ‘Round in April

Texas Christian University’s Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences is pleased to announce the date for their fourth annual Cowtown Oncology Symposium. Cowtown aims to meet the educational needs of nurses who provide care to oncology patients, and to increase awareness of current trends in the field.

NOEP will present a poster at Cowtown: End of Life Care Nursing Education and Implications for Practice, in which we outline nurses’ response to an online podcast, The Nurse’s Role in End of Life Care.

In addition to posters, Cowtown boasts an all-star line-up of speakers. Two of NOEP’s long-time allies, Mary Beth Kean, DNP, RN-BC, ACNS, CCRN and Joni Watson, MBA, MSN, RN, OCN, will speak about Pain Management/Palliative Care and Survivorship, respectively. If you can get to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area on Saturday, April 26, this all day event should not be missed.

Obesity: A bigger contributor to cancer than you may think

The amount of research showing the connections between obesity and cancer has grown immensely in the past few years. Obesity is associated with colorectal, kidney, liver/gallbladder, pancreatic, and esophageal cancers in both men and women; stomach and prostate cancers in men; and postmenopausal breast, endometrial, uterine, and ovarian cancers in women (Hursting, 2012).

I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Hursting share the research he is doing with his team at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. He spoke at the Oncology Nursing Society’s Annual Congress in April 2013, where he actually said that obesity is a bigger contributor to cancer than tobacco. I was so shocked when I heard that, I had to put it in writing! I thought nothing could be more beneficial to one’s health behaviors to prevent cancer than quitting smoking. However, based on the new findings about obesity and cancer, perhaps eating a nutritious diet and engaging in physical activity is of the utmost importance.

NOEP has a new educational activity Nursewise: Nutrition and Physical Activity, which gives a comprehensive overview of what every nurse should know in order to educate his or her patients on the topics of diet and exercise. The course also reviews the new American Cancer Society’s Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention. Check it out at www.noep.org and receive 1.0 contact hour of Continuing Nursing Education.

–By Carol Cannon, BSN, RN, OCN

Hursting, S.D. (2012). Minireview: The Year in Obesity and Cancer. Molecular

Endocrinology, 26(12), 1961-1966.

From the Director: ONS Congress Recap!

MyLifeLine.org's Christi Disch (L) and Joni Watson (R)

 I just returned from an amazing trip to Boston for the 36th Annual Oncology Nursing Society Congress. With nearly 5,000 oncology nurses from across the globe in attendance, it was four days of education, networking, and inspiration.

Joni Watson (L) and Lindsay Avner of BrightPink (R)

 

 

 

 

There are so many highlights from the meeting, from presenting NOEP’s education poster highlighting our Survivorship Suite CNE  funded by LIVESTRONG, to attending the CURE Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing event (congrats to Marie Hayek, RN, of Columbus Community Hospital, in Columbus, Texas!), to hearing nursing experts such as Betty Ferrell, PhD, RN, FAAN, who helped create the ELNEC program.

 

LIVESTRONG's Emily Eargle (L) and Melissa Sileo (R) with Joni Watson

 

Squeezed between all that fun and more, I was able to swing by the exhibit hall and say hello to some of our friends – Bright Pink, Cancer and Careers, MyLifeLine.org, and LIVESTRONG. They are each doing such great work to impact cancer care, and they all highly value nurses. How could we not love ‘em?

 

— Joni Watson, MSN, RN, OCN