ONS Bridge™ Is Brought to You by Nurses Just Like You
Did you know that the educational content of all ONS conferences is planned and coordinated by nurses just like you? ONS members volunteer annually to join our Planning Team.
The Planning Team is carefully selected to represent the diversity of oncology nursing practice and works together throughout the year to use your feedback to choose the conference’s educational sessions and content. The Planning Team selects session topics and titles, vets speakers, coordinates session slides and handouts, and guides presenters through our virtual platform.
Learn more about the nurses who are bringing ONS Bridge to life below, and say hello and thank them for all their hard work if you see them on the discussion boards or in session chats!
Gary Shelton, DNP, NP, ANP-BC, AOCNP®, ACHPN
Planning Team Chair
Oncology CNS and Adult Health NP; Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit
Mount Sinai Hospital System
New York, NY
As the chair, what was most important to you as you led the educational content for the 2022 ONS Bridge conference?
ONS has always been our gold standard resource for knowledge, mentorship, and connecting with like-minded colleagues. I am proud that we continued that tradition, while adding a bit of my spirit, as my team and I brainstormed, planned, and collaborated with expert speakers to bring our ideas to fruition.
What aspect of this year’s ONS Bridge conference are you most looking forward to?
A virtual conference is so today and our future! Communicating and connecting with our peers virtually is new for me, and I am so excited. We have a packed program of topics, blogs, ways to connect with friends and colleagues, and roundtables to share best practices. It will be a fabulous event!
What made you want to be part of this year’s Planning Team?
We don't always know what we don't know, but we should always know to whom we can reach out. Bringing together experts from various settings, each with a finger on the pulse of where we are and where we are heading, is an honor, and I am humbled to be a part of this dynamic team. We are all leaders, and we improve with a great team.
Colleen Erb, MSN, CRNP, AOCNP®
Planning Team Member
Oncology Nurse Practitioner–Drugs and Biologics Team
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
Plymouth Meeting, PA
What sessions are you most excited to tune into during ONS Bridge?
I'm most interested in Helping Your Patient Find Their Voice, Staying Current During Constant Change, and Cannabinoids for Patients With Cancer. Although it's tough to pick just a few because I'm really excited for all of them!
What drives you professionally?
My goals are to give nurses the best education and tools to care for patients and make sure patients have all they need to make informed decisions about their healthcare needs; I firmly believe in shared decision-making with patients, patient education, and nursing professional education and want to make those things the best they can be. I feel that the more we educate nurses, the better education patients will receive in return.
What have you enjoyed the most so far about being part of ONS Bridge planning?
I've enjoyed meeting the other planning team members and interacting with the team and with my speakers to build the best program we can for ONS Bridge 2022. The input from others and the work with speakers to develop some great content has been a rewarding process, and starting to see the finished project is exciting. I've learned so much from each person on the team and each of the speakers I've interacted with during the process.
Erica Hall, MSN, RN, OCN®, NPD-BC
Planning Team Member
Clinical Education and Department Manager
Oncology Consultants
Houston, TX
What sessions are you most excited to tune into during ONS Bridge?
With such a wide variety of topics spanning many oncology subspecialties, it is difficult to choose just a few sessions. What I love is that each one is applicable in my day-to-day practice and I am going to find tidbits I can incorporate right away! I am thrilled that they will all be recorded so I can watch them later.
I am most excited for:
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Beyond Blood Counts and Chemistries: The Clinical Significance of Those "Other" Labs with Benyam Muluneh, PharmD, BCOP, CPP, on September 15 from 10–11 am ET. I administer many newer drugs, especially targeted agents, that require labs that I am still learning how to interpret. This session will help me put the pieces together.
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Biosimilars: How Do You Explain Them to Your Patients? This session by Puja Patel, PharmD, BCOP, will stream on September 13 from 11:30 am–12:30 pm ET. Patel presented last year, and we invited her to speak again because attendees told us how engaging her session was. I am looking forward to hearing what she has to say about the evolving role of biosimilars.
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Finding Your Voice: How Nurses Can Create a Healthy Work Culture to Enhance a Thriving Work Environment. Speaker Linda Laskowski-Jones, MS, APRN, ACNS-BC, CEN, NEA-BC, FAWM, FAAN, will be doing this session on September 15 from 12:45–1:45 pm ET. I spend more time with my colleagues at work than I do with my own family. We are all experiencing varying degrees of suffering, whether it is related to work or our personal lives. I joined nursing to ease the suffering of patients, and as part of my professional role, I can also ease the suffering of my team members.
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Honorable Mention: Telehealth: Do You See Me Now? (Part 1) with Sharon Steingass, RN, MSN, AOCN®, on September 15 from 10–11 am ET and Telehealth: We Heard, We Saw, But Did We Conquer? (Part 2) with Kathryn Koehne, DNP, RN-BC, TNP-C, on September 15 from 12:45–1:45 pm EST.
As mentioned, there are many interesting sessions to choose from. The beauty of a virtual conference is I don't have to have “fear of missing out (FOMO)”: even though these are at the same time as some of the other sessions, I can go back and watch them on my own time later.
What made you want to apply to be part of this year’s Planning Team?
As a nursing educator, I am challenged to provide engaging programs that are relevant to the staff I support. With the pandemic, I had to transition to using digital platforms, and I lost some of the engagement I had during face-to-face interaction. ONS has always been my go-to resource for clinical practice questions, so why not lean into them for my educational practice questions? I saw the volunteer opportunity on the ONS Communities and decided to apply.
ONS provided us with a blank slate to design the conference with the directive to choose programming that would help the bedside or chairside nurse. When I met with other Planning Team members, each one seemed incredibly passionate about oncology and education. We spent an afternoon exploring all of our nursing questions and concerns. We bonded over shared challenges, and I felt seen. I am inspired in so many ways, and I hope that you feel the same way when you attend ONS Bridge this year.
What drives you professionally?
If I could sum up my nursing passions in two buckets, it would be patient care and providing high-quality education to nurses. I live for those times I see the light bulb moment. Working with new patients and new staff gives me a front row seat.
Allison Mitchell, RN, BSN
Planning Team Member
RN Oncology Nurse Navigator
Avera Cancer Institute (Avera McKennan Hospital)
Sioux Falls, SD
What have you enjoyed the most about being part of ONS Bridge planning?
Learning and getting to know other oncology professionals outside of my oncology team at work gives me such interest in continuing my professional development and enhancing my nursing practice for my patients. It also matches my values of learning and self-development opportunities.
It is a great way to keep up with nursing practice by networking with like-minded people. Our Planning Team members have inspired me to pursue further leadership and continue to grow in my knowledge and skills. They are also role models for me to continue to be involved with ONS.
What drives you professionally?
The foundation for my excitement with oncology nursing is having endless chances for learning and growing professionally, so I am constantly seeking opportunities and getting involved with ONS. I love gaining experience in my field. Also, the patients who I serve provide inspiration as we continue to work on advanced treatments to preserve life.
What made you want to apply to be part of this year’s Planning Team? Why should others consider joining?
I volunteered because I love education and networking with like-minded people. This is a great opportunity to get involved with ONS and to build professional relationships. It also serves as a foundation for future projects and connections with ONS, especially if you are looking for ways to get involved. I am newer to the oncology world, so this group is very inspirational, which makes me proud to be an oncology nurse. Plus, it reminds of my passion for continuing to work in oncology. I am very grateful and honored to be involved with the ONS Bridge Planning Team.
Megha Shah, RN, BSN, OCN®
Planning Team Member
Infusion Nurse
Northwestern Medicine
Chicago, IL
What made you want to apply to be part of this year’s Planning Team?
I was a member of last year’s ONS Bridge Planning Team and it was an exuberating experience. I learned a lot and met some amazing oncology nurses around the United States. When I had the chance to do it again, I totally jumped on the opportunity!
What sessions are you most excited to tune into during ONS Bridge?
I am really excited about Biosimilars: How Do you Explain Them to Your Patients?, Radiation Safety: How Much Is Too Much?, Telehealth: Do You See Me Now? (Part 1), and Telehealth: We Heard, We Saw, But Did we Conquer? (Part 2).
What have you enjoyed the most about being part of ONS Bridge planning?
I have learned so much already during this journey and continue to learn things that I did not know about oncology nursing. It feels like I am a part of a wonderful family and once the conference is over, I will miss this team. It is a great and exciting opportunity!
We thank the team for all that they are doing to make ONS Bridge a success! We can’t wait to see it come to life and we hope you’ll be joining us, too. Register now.