What a different world is possible," said Vernice Ferguson, RN, MA, FAAN, FRCN, accepting the Distinguished Merit Award at the opening session of the 16th International Conference on Cancer Nursing in Atlanta, Georgia. She spoke of the importance of preventive medicine and the critical role nurses play in promoting healthy lifestyles, which she said could prevent the occurrence of up to one third of all cancers.
Cancer prevention is a neglected area, she said. "We do very well in cancer care with diagnosis and treatment, but we do too little with prevention. I was trying to emphasize the need for more attention by nurses to prevention of cancer and helping people to develop healthier lifestyles." She called upon nurses of the world to unite and "to include prevention prominently in your life's work." The prevention of cancer is "a useful goal," she added.
Ferguson spent most of her career in federal services as chief nurse at two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers affiliated with universities and as chief of the Nursing Department at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. She served for 12 years as assistant chief medical director for nursing programs at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to her retirement, Ferguson was senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, where she held the Fagin Family Chair in Cultural Diversity from 1993 to 1996.
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