It’s been a busy time in the world of oncology. The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) held its 37th Annual Congress in May while the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) took place this month. The Oncology Nurse- APN/PA (TON) was at both events. Our coverage of the news from the ONS and ASCO meetings starts with this issue and will continue over the next several issues.
Be sure to check out our “view from the floor” to see what was going on at the ONS congress in New Orleans—maybe you’ll see yourself or recognize some of your colleagues in our photos. We talked to several nurse presenters at ONS and have articles about how 2 new programs can help nurses prepare their patients for bone marrow transplant (a DVD) or chemotherapy (an online program).
With all the major news coming from the ASCO meeting in Chicago, we present our summary of abstracts of interest to TON readers. These studies are important to oncology nurses as they update us on the status of some of the latest research and give us a perspective that is not specific to nurses.
In addition to the news from the ONS and ASCO meetings, this issue addresses a variety of topics—everything from importance of screening for the “whispering disease” of ovarian cancer to a nursing perspective on personalized medicine in lung cancer care.
We continue to hear from MMA, a patient undergoing treatment for cancer. She gives us a very valuable perspective on how we as professionals interact with patients on the topic of pain. How individuals perceive pain is subjective, but we all know that many of the procedures our patients undergo are painful. MMA tells us how one nurse helped her by telling “the truth about pain.” The topic of pain is the subject of our new reader poll (here). Please go to www.TheOncologyNurse.com to participate in the poll and tell us how you discuss pain with your patients.
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