ONS Annual Congress

With genetic profiles and genomic targeting increasingly impacting treatment decisions, patients and families would welcome a one-stop place where they can find resources to help unravel all this complex information.

The possibility that hospitalized cancer patients will fall is an ongoing concern among the medical professionals who care for them.

Developing a skin rash as a result of EGFR-inhibitor targeted therapy often signals that the drug is working, but for patients who experience these serious dermatologic adverse events, it may become so intolerable that they will scale back or even discontinue anticancer medications that could prolong their survival.

With the growing use of oral therapies in cancer care, it is crucial that oncology nurses are using a systematic approach to assess and improve adherence, according to Whitney Perry, APRN, AOCNP.

Darcy Burbage, RN, MSN, AOCN, CBCN, Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, discusses the role nurses play in treating patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).

Dennise Geiger, RN, Regional Cancer Care Associates, Central Jersey Division, discusses difficulties nurses face when using telephone triage, and the plan that was developed to better streamline the process.

Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a dangerous and often overlooked side effect of certain gastrointestinal malignancies such as liver and pancreatic cancer, that oncology nurses need to be more proactive in managing.

West Cancer Center researchers developed a best nursing practice protocol for titration of fentanyl sublingual spray, which is the most recently approved transmucosal immediate-release fentanyl formulation.

When chemotherapy involves tricky infusion timing, patients are routinely admitted to hospitals to receive their treatments. But what would happen if these drugs could be administered successfully on an outpatient basis?

Kathryn Ciccolini, RN, BSN, OCN, DNC, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the concept she developed to manage dermatologic adverse events for patients with cancer.

Joel Stettler, BSN, RN, OCN, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses procedures implemented at his institution for patients who are at risk for falls.

Carmela Hoefling, RN, MSN, APN-C, AOCNP, advanced practice nurse, Gastrointestinal/Hepatobiliary Oncology Program, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, discusses the effects that malnourishment can have on surgery.

Lots of people take their work home with them, but Lynne Malestic, RN, has given the idea new meaning.

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, but that doesn’t mean the healthcare system won’t. This proves to be even more true for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

A multidisciplinary team led by oncology nurses can reduce both hospitalization and treatment breaks for patients with head and neck cancer.

When oncology nurses move proactively to learn more about and use proven effective “green-lighted” interventions like exercise and muscle relaxation in their daily practice, it can go a long way in helping patients and their caregivers manage symptoms associated with a cancer diagnosis like fatigue and anxiety.

Jeannine Brant, PhD, Billings Clinic, discusses the benefits of patient-reported outcomes in cancer care.

Researchers at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey are testing the possibility of sending treatment drugs directly to the kidney in patients with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma in situ or small tumors in the kidney area.

Ellyn Matthews, PhD, RN, AOCNS, CBSM, who holds the Elizabeth Stanley Cooper Endowed Chair in Oncology Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, addresses common misconceptions that patients with cancer have about sleep disturbances.

A team of editors from Oncology Nursing News and CURE magazine will be in San Antonio at the 41st Annual ONS Congress covering sessions and interviewing nurses about their research of interest to oncology professionals and to the patients and survivors they tweet.

With today's approximately 14.5 million cancer survivors-a number projected to reach nearly 18 million in 2024-new survivorship models of care are needed.

A navigator-designed, proactive, weekly, telephone support call to help patients with blood cancers manage their symptoms between appointments was able to significantly reduce unplanned hospitalizations at a Colorado cancer center.

A nurse navigator–led program aimed at improving awareness, access, and uptake of low-dose CT screening for individuals at high risk of lung cancer resulted in improved screening rates with the potential to improve patient outcomes by catching the disease at its earliest stages.

With cancer treatment being delivered more in an outpatient setting, the burden of home healthcare has shifted more to family caregivers.

Oncology nurse navigators are known for identifying gaps in cancer care, being proactive in setting goals to address them, and designing specific interventions that lead not only to better-and measurable-outcomes but also to increased patient satisfaction.

Imagine a woman with a weight problem who, two weeks after chemotherapy, goes to her doctor with a urinary tract infection and a rash on her upper chest.

Sandra Spoelstra, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Michigan State University, explains some of the reasons why cancer patients don't adhere to their oral medications.

Beth Calmes, MSN, RN, oncology unit, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, explains what honor bathing is and how it impacts the family members of the recently deceased patient.

Marianne Davies, RN, MSN, ACNP, AOCN, Smilow Cancer Hospital, Yale School of Nursing, discusses how to determine which patients are eligible for immunotherapy.

The concerns a family might have when a loved one develops squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity might seem obvious: fear that the patient will have a shorter life due to advanced disease, empathy for her pain, and a feeling of isolation in facing a rare presentation of cancer.