Northern Virginia Chapter ONS
Spring Newsletter, 2011
Editor: Donna Meyer
Chapter Mission: The mission of our chapter is to create a culture within our community that promotes excellence in oncology nursing and quality cancer care.
Chapter Vision: The vision of our chapter is to advance the role of the oncology nurse in the continuum of cancer care which includes prevention, screening, early detection, treatment, palliative care, research and education.
Local Meetings are the fourth Mondays of the month Future Program Events: Please keep alert to Gail Harvey’s flyers of the upcoming chapter meetings via email. Contact:
To the membership of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society, I would first like to thank you for electing me as your 2011 chapter president. Over the last few years, I have had an incredible journey with our chapter, as a first time ONS member, then as a board member. I am hoping that this year will be yet another successful year for our chapter. Because of the work of so many of our members, our chapter has been very active in many areas. This is such an amazing chapter and I hope that our members continue to look for more opportunities to advance their education and to apply for scholarships from our local chapter.
I really enjoy seeing all of you at our monthly dinner meetings. Having been in Gail’s position, I know what a tough job it is to plan monthly meetings for about 60 nurses, so I would like to thank Gail for doing such an outstanding job allowing us to have a monthly event where I know remarkable networking goes on. On that note, I am hoping that everyone remains active in the membership meetings, board meetings and committee meetings and at the national conferences. Each of those meetings is open to the entire membership. I would like to again thank all of you for your participation, because without the work put in “back stage” none of this would be possible! So, I encourage you to look into what out chapter is planning this year and find something of interest to you and become an active member. Thank you again for all of your support!
Board Meetings are held at 6pm at American Cancer Society office Park Street, Vienna (Dates: May 9, July 11, Sept. 12 and Nov. 7)
President Northern Virginia Oncology chapter
Christine Helou
CHAPTER BOARD 2011
ONS Board Meeting January 22, 2011 at Sentara Potomac Hospital
Pictured are Geronima Cortese-Jimenez (President Elect 2012), Christine Althoff (Past President 2010) and Christine Helou (President 2011)
ONS Board 2011
Christine Helou, Lois Sutphin, Jean Sullivan, Gail Harvey, Anne Bush, Donna Meyer, Christine Althoff, Doreen Grzelak, Marsha Komandt,
Not Picture: Geronima Cortese-Jimenez, Christine Stone,
Janine Prime, Alana Jaffe
Happy Certified Nurses Day from the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC)!
March 19 has been declared Certified Nurses Day by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to celebrate the contributions of certified nurses to patient care. Thank you for demonstrating your dedication to professional practice and patient care by becoming certified in oncology nursing. You are one of more than 30,000 ONCC-certified nurses who have made that commitment.
Throughout the world, more than 500,000 nurses are certified in specialty practice areas. Together, certified nurses have enhanced patient care and elevated professional practice in nearly every area of nursing.
This Certified Nurses Day, take a moment to reflect on your achievements as an oncology certified nurse. ONCC is proud to celebrate this special day, and proud of the contributions made by oncology certified nurses every day.
Sincerely,
Oncology Nursing Certification Board of Directors
N. VA ONS CHAPTER NEWS FLASH:
Eric Cohen reported at the March Chapter meeting that voting by the chapter, in the ONS National Election was 38.5%. Much improved over the last year. CONGRATS TO N. VA ONS…..WITH PLAN TO IMPROVE FOR THE NEXT NATIONAL ELECTION!
Commit to Your Education, Connect to Your Colleagues
Plan now to head to Boston April 28-May 1, for the ONS 36th Annual Congress! You'll get the latest cancer nursing education and have a chance to connect to more than 4,000 of your nursing peers. It's the perfect place to sharpen your skills, share ideas, and become part of the ONS community. And, if you register by March 24, you’ll save $100.
Customize Your Learning Experience
Everyone has different educational needs. At Congress, you can customize your schedule and pick the sessions that meet yours. Sessions are categorized by topic and practice level, making it simple to individualize your experience.
Earn More Than 15 Contract Hours at Congress
Worth more than 15 contact hours, Congress is the #1 conference for cancer nurses. You'll learn about hot topics in cancer care, including chemotherapy, symptom management, radiation, patient education, disease management, and more.
New in 2011 Free Access to Virtual Meeting for Congress Attendees!
No need to worry about missing sessions! You can continue the learning at home! As a Congress attendee, you’ll have access to the entire Congress Virtual Meeting – and additional CNE – for FREE! Congress sessions will be captured live.
Register for Congress http://www.ons.org/CNECentral/Conferences/Congress/2011/learn
NEWS from National ONS:
Prostate Cancer Awareness
ONS has joined as an advocacy partner in a sports-themed campaign produced by Edge Health Initiatives, LLC. that will focus on prostate cancer awareness. "On The Line" launched on February 15 with celebrity appearances on ABC's Good Morning America and MSNBC’s Morning Joe. ESPN is the main media vehicle for this ongoing campaign that will reach across all sports seasons. Let's share this link with our patients, family members, and colleagues to help men recognize that their health is "On The Line"! http://www.ontheline.com/
Breast Cancer Biomarkers
Biomarkers are becoming key predictors of cancer outcomes, particularly in breast cancer. By identifying the presence of biomarkers in breast tumors, healthcare providers are better able to prescribe effective, personalized treatments. An article in the December 2010 issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing discusses the three traditional breast cancer biomarkers and what they mean for breast cancer care. Get the overview in ONS Connect. http://ons.metapress.com/content/h782631737819463/
World Cancer Declaration
ONS has pledged to gather 1,500 signatures by the first UN Summit for Non Communicable Diseases (NCD’s) in September, 2011. Show your support for ONS and this important global initiative by signing the declaration as an ONS member! http://www.ons.org/International/Declaration
Educating New Patients With Cancer
Oncology nurses frequently shoulder the responsibility of educating newly diagnosed patients with cancer. A quality improvement project in the new issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing discusses educational interventions to reduce anxiety and give new patients a sense of control. http://ons.metapress.com/content/j27748r57t128647/
Forgoing Axillary Dissection
A study published Wednesday in JAMA found that, among a small subset of patients with breast cancer, axillary dissection in patients with sentinel node metastases does not significantly affect survival rates. The study was covered by the mainstream media with a New York Times’ reporter describing it as turning “standard medical practice on its head.” Although the findings are exciting for patients with breast cancer, nurses play a key role in helping patients understand the limitations of the findings. http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/6/569.full.pdf+html
Contact www.ons.org for further information on the National Oncology Nursing Society. Click on Northern VA chapter site for chapter info.
Where Oncology Nurses Connect
The Congressional Budget for Fiscal Year 2011 has been released and there are dramatic cuts for NIH, FDA, CDC, and HRSA. These cuts will have a significant impact on education. On the ONS web-site you will find an advocacy message from Carlton Brown, President of ONS. Please support Federal Nursing Programs by sending your letter to Congress.
Click on web-site below for the letter and provide your support.
Dear ONS Member,
Please click on the link below for an important advocacy message to the US Congress from ONS President Carl Brown.
http://www.capwiz.com/ona/issues/alert/?alertid=29286526
Other Legislative News:
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be heavily debated. Republicans feel the ACA will mean fewer jobs and increase federal debt. Democrats feel it will increase jobs and reduce debt. A big concern is the 50-129 million people under 65 years of age who have pre-existing conditions. As the debate continues, a third Federal Judge has declared that the requirement to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty is constitutional. Americans seem evenly divided on the law. Physicians fear that the health care reform law could worsen patient care by flooding the offices and hurt their income.
The FDA and ODAC have recently met to debate the value of the accelerated drug approval program for cancer drugs. The meeting is a result of the decisions on Roche’s Avastin and Pfizer’s Mylotarg. The committee discussed if accelerated approval should be delayed until confirmatory trials are underway. The goal of ODAC is to improve the regulation design and conduct of trials required to accelerated approval and confirmatory trials.
We currently have 102 members. We would like to welcome ten new members—Joshelyn Asis, Inta Funk, Miranda Gingerich, Katherine Haughs, Emily Henderson, Christine Keaveny, Sara Koslosky, Jemini Shelat, Sally Randall and Sara Wassel.
Fifty-five members report that they are OCN, six are AOCN, three are AOCNP, two are AOCNS and five are CBCN.
CONGRATULATIONS to Catherine Bishop
Catherine Bishop, DNP, N.P., AOCNP hashad an article published in the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology (Vol 2 No 2, Mar/Apr 2011) entitled Biomarkers in Breast Cancer. Here is the link to the publication. http://www.advancedpractitioner.com/ Catherine is a memberof theeditorial boardfor the journal as well.
TheMar/Apr issue is available on-line and in print.The print
version of the journal is free to APNs and PAs.
CONGRATULATIONS to Donna Eichna
Donna Eichna won a FREE National Membership for 2011 for the Attendance Award.
Membership will continue to promote 3 initiatives for 2011:
Renewal/Join by March 1, 2011: You will be eligible for the drawing that will award 2 chapter members FREE chapter membership for 2012. Drawing April 2011
Bring A Member Campaign: Bring at least one new member that you have recruited and that will make you eligible for drawing October 2011 for ONS dollars.
Attendance Promotion Award: Attend 8 out of 12 chapter meetings with no cancellations after deadline date will make you eligible for a FREE National Membership for 2012, with drawing to be held at January 2012 chapter meeting.
This year’s Program Calendar will feature more corporate-sponsored lectures with CEU’s compared to last year. We do not have to use Chapter funds for Members to earn CEU’s. While this is desirable, the topics of these programs are staples. The goal is also to look for more novel lectures. Perhaps it’s time again to put out a survey on the topics members would like to be presented during our monthly meetings. This could bring out fresher ideas.
We had a record attendance of 68 for the month of February. The late cancellation/no-show policy appears to be working. Some members are voluntarily paying after their first incidentand there has not been a drop in attendance. Members are being more committed to these meetings.
Top of Form
The Northern Virginia Oncology Nursing Society Scholarship Committee has scholarships to be awarded to members for national, regional or local conferences.
To be eligible, the member must have attended 50% of the prior year’s chapter meetings, be currently on a chapter committee or project, and write an essay in 350 words or less to describe her/his role as an oncology nurse, your volunteer contributions, professional contributions, your membership and participation in professional organizations, any honors that you may have received, and future goals as a nurse.
To receive the scholarship, the member must meet the criteria, complete the application form and agree to write an article for the ONS newsletter or give a presentation at an ONS meeting. Why not apply today?
Edith Rochon (APN Congress) and Lynn Magrum (Cancer Retreat) received scholarships for programs they attended in 2010.
Congratulations to Scholarship Recipients for Spring 2011. They are: Marsha Komandt, Nissa Ruthenbeck, Lois Sutphin, Jane Weatherford, and Kathleen Wright.
I would like to recognize and thank the Scholarship Committee members, Diane Chapman, Eric Cohen, and Patricia Horgas, for their help in determining who receives the scholarships. If anyone is interested in joining the committee, please notify me by the email address below.
Email Anne Bush, Scholarship Chair, at for an application or obtain one from the next Northern Virginia ONS meeting.
To All Our ONS Northern Virginia Chapter Members:
Our 5th Annual Cancer Survivor Retreat was a wonderful success!
We had 63 participants,including 6 male attendees and 4 couples. Our focus this year was on cancer'simpact on relationships. We had a3 survivor panel that included one couple.Our keynote speaker was Sage Bolte PhD, LCSW, OSW-C who discussed regainingemotional andphysical intimacy with others and withourselves.
Our Special Projects Committee spearheaded the effort to bring about this day. They are: MarshaKomandt, Paulette Komarny, Lynn Magrum, Lisa Cawthorne, IreneReidmanJean Sullivan and Dick Schrout.
Several ONS members contributed to the event. Thisday would not have been possible without their help.They may have beentreasurer, printer,speakers, registrars, door prize/ vendor donation procurer or a friendly face guiding someone to a class. They are: Lois Sutphin, Lisa Cawthorne,Lynn Magrum, Megan Wholey,Geronima Cortese-Jimenez, Edith Rochon, Anne Bush, Carol Cassavechio, Diane Chapman,Christine Altoff,Paulette Komarny, Marsha Komandt, Christine Patterson and Bunny Tigerman.