In this month’s issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON), we continue our coverage of the news from the recent Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 39th Annual Congress and the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Unsurprisingly, both conferences presented invaluable information to oncology professionals.
At ONS, Joanne Frankel Kelvin, RN, MSN, AOCN, a clinical nurse specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discussed fertility preservation options for both male and female patients with cancer. Some of the 14 million cancer survivors in the United States may wish to plan a family or have more children—these people need to know what options may be available to them prior to starting treatment for cancer. Joanne hopes that the information she presented at ONS inspires nurses to address fertility issues with patients. Fertility preservation is the topic of this month’s reader poll. Please read the article about Joanne’s ONS presentation and then go to www.TheOncologyNurse.com to participate in the poll and tell us how you discuss fertility preservation options with your patients.
Our continuing ASCO coverage includes information about the financial distress that many patients with cancer experience. As oncology professionals, we all know how much financial issues can affect our patients. Researchers who conducted a study of 300 patients at Duke University noted that financial distress re-lated to cancer care often has many consequences, which can range from nonadherence to treatment to bankruptcy. The researchers next plan to examine possible risk factors for financial distress and how to monitor for these factors.
Stay tuned for more news from ONS and ASCO, along with other information important to your daily practice. In the meantime, please visit our website, www.TheOncologyNurse.com. Be sure to tell us what topics you want to see covered in TON. Let us know if you would be interested in writing an article for TON. We want to hear from you, and we appreciate your feedback—positive and negative—about what you see in print and on the website
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