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“Like all emergencies, they’re unpredictable. I have seen them at the very beginning and sometimes, unfortunately, that can be the patient’s first sign or symptom that they have cancer. It can be something like they’ve lost the ability to walk, or their breathing gets difficult. I’ve also seen it during the middle of their care continuum where we finish a round of radiation and they develop metastatic disease so the next time you see then for radiation can be for a cord compression. I’ve also seen it toward the end of their care continuum where this is strictly a quality-of-life measure,” ONS member John Hollman, BSN, RN, OCN®, senior nurse manager of radiation oncology at AdventHealth Cancer Institute in Orlando, FL, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a discussion about radiation therapy for emergent and urgent interventions.

“These patients have very intense regimens of chemotherapy. They’re tired a lot of the time. Between their oral chemotherapy, their IV chemotherapy, their hospitalizations, and then coming in. Everything takes longer than we would like it to for these patients. They are long days to come in for a procedure,” ONS member Rebekah Rabinowitz, RN, BSN, OCN®, neuro-oncology nurse at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a discussion about nursing considerations for intraventricular and intrathecal administration.

“Since gastrointestinal complications are so broad, you will see these types of complications in really any oncology setting,” ONS member Kara Freedman, MS, RN, AGCNS-BC, PCCN, assistant nurse manager at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, NY, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a discussion about managing gastrointestinal complications.

“It’s really an exciting time to be in the field of oncology because we can have these specific drugs that target these specific variants rather than, back in the day, when we had to use kind of generic cancer therapies that weren’t specific for an individual’s cancer,” ONS member Suzanne Walker, PhD, CRNP, AOCN®, senior advanced practice provider and coordinator for thoracic malignancies at the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a discussion about the latest updates in chemotherapy and immunotherapy treatments. Walker is one of the editors of ONS’s second edition of the Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice book.

What is it like to guide a professional association that serves more than 100,000 oncology nurses? ONS Chief Executive Officer Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN, and 2023–2026 Directors-at-Large Susan Brown, PhD, MSN, CENP, Jessica MacIntyre, DNP, MBA, APRN, AOCNP®, and Trey Woods, RN, MSN, NP-C, discuss the ONS Leadership Development Committee’s appointment process for the ONS Board of Directors, reflect on their experience in ONS, and elaborate on the work they do in their leadership positions.

“You don’t have to have any musical background to benefit from musical therapy,” ONS member Susan Yaguda, MSN, RN, manager of integrative oncology and survivorship in the Department of Supportive Oncology at the Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a discussion about how music therapists and oncology nurses collaborate to offer music therapy’s benefits to patients with cancer. 

“Before you even get started, you have to do your checks. Just like you do with a regular systemic infusion. You’re going to be doing your physical assessment prior to starting your patient, looking at your orders to make sure everything looks right, looking at the lab work,” ONS member Emoke Karonis, MSN, RN, CRNI, clinical nurse specialist fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, said. “You have to be absolutely sure that day that patient is presenting to you in your suite, you’re definitely giving what is expected for that day.” Karonis was speaking to Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, about oncology nursing considerations for intraperitoneal chemotherapy administration. You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below.

“Nursing ethics is relationship centered because when your friend, family member, or colleague becomes a patient, that relationship can’t be uninformed by how you know that person before they got sick. The first thing is to recognize you know them, and caring or them poses some fairly unique challenges in terms of, ‘How do I maintain professional boundaries?’” Lucia D. Wocial, PhD, RN, FAAN, HEC-C, senior clinical ethicist at the Lynch Center for Ethics at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, about the ethical considerations and implications of providing cancer care when people you know become the patient—whether they’re a friend, family member, or a colleague.

“Certification increases nurses’ knowledge, ensures that they are up to date on cancer care, and helps them to be prepared to effectively manage symptoms associated with cancer and cancer treatments. They will acquire effective therapeutic communication skills while caring for people with cancer, their caregivers, and other members of the interprofessional team,” ONS member Kerstin Scheper, DNP, RN-BC, OCN®, CHPN, interim assistant vice president at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Somerville, NJ, and Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation Board of Directors member, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a discussion about oncology nursing certification.

“When someone is faced with a cancer diagnosis, you want to really try to work to make that patient an active part of their care team. Understand that there are things out of their control, but there are also things that are within their control. You can teach them how to manage fatigue associated with anemia, or how to prevent falls. These are the things you can do to prevent infection; these are the nutrition things you should focus on to help you feel your best,” ONS member Kimberly Miller, BSN, RN, BMTCN®, transplant case manager at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha, and member of the Metro Omaha ONS Chapter, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about nursing management of cancer-related hematologic complications.