Oncology Nursing Society’s Annual Meeting (ONS)

Patients undergoing allo-HSCT can remain immune-impaired for several years after treatment, but methods such as adopting guideline-driven tracking tools to determine which patients have been assessed for immunization eligibility can improve vaccination rates, suggest a feasibility study at ONS.

Delivering vincristine via mini-IV drip bags instead of pushing it with a syringe might avoid injection into spinal fluid, which is uniformly fatal.

Dental exams and procedures should occur before treatment begins for patients with head and neck cancer and other malignancies, and post-treatment dental follow-up care should be life-long for cancer survivors.

Advanced practice nurses and oncology nurses can benefit from having a better understanding of recently approved immunotherapies and targeted agents, both in how they work and who should be receiving them.

Blood transfusions play a key role in managing complications of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), involving unique blood product strategies.

Good cancer treatment is not just brilliant diagnostics, treatment, and follow-up care, but includes treating and caring for the whole person, which can include understanding a patient’s sexual orientation and gender identity.

While oncologic emergencies are common among cancer patients, they can often be avoided with close monitoring, early intervention, and ongoing patient education.

Precautions should be taken when handling chemotherapy and other hazardous drugs, as they can cause acute or chronic effects in nurses and healthcare providers.

In this video Lindsey Radcliff, BSN, RN, of the James Cancer Hospital in Ohio, discusses steps her institution took to improve chemotherapy scheduling in an attempt to increase the number of patients scheduled and reduce patient wait times.

In this video Pamela K. Ginex, EdD, RN, OCN, discusses a successful partnership between a clinical librarian and the nursing staff at her institution, a collaboration that benefits staff and, ultimately, patients.

In this video Alexis Covert, BSN, RN, OCN, discusses a study that aimed to raise awareness among staff nurses on the assessment of cancer-related fatigue, a prevalent and distressing cancer symptoms that affects 80% to 100% cancer patients, and interventions to help treat it.

In this video Kristen Fessele, PhD, RN, AOCN, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Utah College of Nursing, discusses a study which examined genetic factors that affected the symptom experience of patients being treated with chemotherapy.

In this interview, we discuss symptom self-management strategies reported by adolescents and young adults with cancer, including some of the most common symptoms affecting this patient population and effective self-management techniques.

Nurses need to be able to provide self-care to themselves because compassion fatigue can have negative physical, psychosocial, and spiritual effects.

As part of our coverage of ONS, we discuss dermatologic issues in oncology patients, including skin-related toxicities and assessment techniques used to identify skin-related issues.

As part of our coverage of ONS we discuss the role of oncology nurses in pain management, how pain management has become more complex in recent years, and review some of the most important things to remember when involved in a complex pain management case.

Understanding treatment-induced neurotoxicity can be difficult when treating patients with central nervous system (CNS) malignancies.

This session at ONS reviewed treatment options for CLL and the issues associated with bone marrow transplantation in eligible patients.

In this video from the 2015 ONS meeting, Dr. Sipples talks about effective management of side effects for patients taking afatinib, an oral, targeted agent for lung cancer.

In this video from the 2015 ONS meeting, Dr. Omran discusses the high-risk of colorectal cancer among the Jordanian population and the need to promote more screening awareness.

In this video from the 2015 ONS meeting, Dr. Gwyn talks about nurse practitioners delivering bad news to patients by utilizing the SPIKES protocol.

The topic of obesity and its effect on cancer risk and subsequent treatment was discussed in detail at this year's Oncology Nursing Society annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Patients with lung cancer are increasingly receiving targeted therapies that induce complete disease remissions, but they can also develop resistance to these drugs. New efforts are now underway to discover and develop new options for patients experiencing drug resistance.

As part of our coverage of the ONS Annual Congress, we discuss some of the unique psychosocial challenges faced by young adults with cancer.

As part of our coverage of the ONS Annual Congress, we are discussing the oncology nurse's role in distress screening in cancer patients.

As part of our coverage of the 2015 ONS Annual Congress, we discuss genetic testing for cancer patients and the role of oncology nurses.

New treatment options for melanoma continue to be developed, especially in the areas of immunotherapies and targeted agents. Oncology nurses need to be knowledgeable about the various therapies being used, indication for use, and the management of adverse events.

Oncolytic viruses are receiving more attention these days as a form of cancer treatment, and have shown promise in clinical trials. These viruses are thought not only to cause direct destruction of the tumor cells, but also to stimulate a patient's immune response.

According to a recent study, 89% of patients would be willing to use hypnosis to control side effects associated with cancer treatment. So, if patient are willing to try this, why are we not utilizing this kind of therapy more often? Myths associated with hypnosis are generally the reason.