Heather Thompson Mackey, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, AOCN®
Kernersville, NC
Position: Director-at-Large
Heather Thompson Mackey, MSN, RN, ANP-BC, AOCN®
Manager, Cancer Support Services; PRN Nurse Practitioner
Novant Health Derrick L. Davis Regional Cancer Center Kernersville, NC
ONS member: 21 years
EDUCATION:
2001, MS in Nursing with Adult Nurse Practitioner certification (Oncology), UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill North Carolina
1995, Diploma in Nursing, Watts School of Nursing, Durham North Carolina
1993, BS in Biology, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill North Carolina
ONS PARTICIPATION (national and local):
2017 to present: Expert Reviewer, ONS Advanced Practice Nurse Competencies (national)
2015 to present: Newsletter Editor / Virtual Community Chair, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS Board of Directors (local)
2014-2016: ONS Representative, American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Survivorship Clinical Care Guidelines Working Group (national)
2014 to present: Member, ONS Generalist Nurse Competencies Project Team (national)
2009-2015: Member, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS oncology certified nurse (OCN) Review Course Planning Team (local)
2009-2012: ONS Honor Someone Special Nursing Recognition Program Implementation Committee (national)
2009-2011: Member, ONCC Recognition / Awards Subcommittee (national)
2009-2010: Chair, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS OCN Review Course Planning Team (local) 2008-2009: Fellow, ONS Leadership Development Institute (national)
2008-2010: Website Coordinator, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS OCN Review Course Planning Team (local)
2008-2012, 2015-present: Member, Oncology Nursing Foundation Excellence Awards Review Team (national)
2007-2009: Reviewer, ONS Advanced Practice Nursing Conference Abstracts (national)
2006-2009, Chair and Member, ONCC Certification News Editorial Board (national)
2007 to present: Advocate, ONCC Certification Advocates program (national)
2004-2011: Reviewer, ONS Annual Congress Abstracts (national)
2004-2006: President, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS (local)
2004-2006: Member, ONCC Certification News Editorial Board (national)
2003-2005: ONS Membership / Leadership Advisory Panel (national)
2003: Chair, ONS Institutes of Learning (IOL) Project Team (national)
2002 to present: Member, Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing Review Board (national)
2002-2004: President Elect, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS (local)
2001-2007: Member, Oncology Education Services (OES) Continuing Education Review Team (national)
2001-2003: Team Member, ONS Institutes of Learning (IOL) Project Team (national)
1999-2000: Fellow, ONS / Aventis / AJN Nursing Program (national)
1999-2001: Secretary, Piedmont Triad Chapter ONS (local)
WORK RELATED SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP:
7/2017 to present: Manager, Cancer Support Services; PRN Nurse Practitioner, Novant Health Derrick L. Davis Regional Cancer Center, Winston-Salem NC: Administrative oversight of oncology nurse navigators, genetic counselors, licensed counselor, and support personnel; cancer committee; team member, multiple oncology advisory groups; program development - survivorship program; clinical oversight: high risk and genetic clinics
7/2016-7/2017: Nurse Practitioner, Cancer Survivorship, Cone Health, Greensboro NC: Managed and monitored chronic ambulatory conditions of cancer survivors including long and late term side effects and surveillance for recurrence / new malignancies; developed and completed survivorship care plans 2014 to present: Independent Contractor / Oncology APRN Consultant (self employed): Developed general and advanced practice oncology nursing educational programming and practice-related resources for oncology and nursing organizations; revision of practice guidelines for oncology and nursing organizations; oncology clinical practice facilitation / consultant
2012-2014: Project Manager, Education; Oncology Nursing Society, Pittsburgh, PA: Developed, coordinated, and implemented education activities and practice-related resources for general and advanced practice oncology nurses; served as clinical expert and liaison between organization, members, and general public for clinical oncology questions and concerns.
2009-2012: Nurse Practitioner; Winston-Salem Health Care Oncology, Winston-Salem, NC: Provision of medical and advanced nursing care to oncology patients; assisted in establishing referral program for outside physicians with patients requiring infusion therapy; enhanced safety and quality of care provided through creation and implementation of standardized chemotherapy order sets; Precepted oncology nurse practitioner students
2008 – 2009: Nurse Practitioner; Blood and Marrow Transplant, Wake Forest University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winston-Salem, NC: Provision of medical and advanced nursing care to oncology patients undergoing autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation on outpatient and inpatient basis
2006-2008: Nurse Practitioner, Kate B Reynolds Hospice Home; Hospice and Palliative Care Center, Winston-Salem, NC: Provision of Provision of medical and advanced nursing care to patients with life limiting disease in inpatient hospice setting
2004-2007: Nurse Practitioner / Coordinator, Palliative Care Program; North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, NC: Provision of medical and advanced nursing care to patients with life limiting disease; established the role of the advanced practice nurse in palliative care consultative service; created and implemented treatment algorithms to improve quality of symptom management; assisted in creation of Inpatient Palliative Care Unit; Precepted oncology nurse practitioner students
2001-2004: Nurse Practitioner / Coordinator, Thoracic Oncology Program; Wake Forest University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Winston-Salem, NC: Provision of medical and advanced nursing care to patients with thoracic malignancies; led implementation of multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program; established role of coordinator / advanced practice nurse in multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program
1996-2002: Staff Nurse, Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit; North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Winston-Salem, NC: Provision of specialized nursing care to oncology patients undergoing allogeneic and autologous stem cell / bone marrow transplantation; Chair, Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit Based Shared Governance Committee; member, Shared Governance Practice Council; Charge Nurse; Preceptor
HEALTH CARE/ CANCER ORGANIZATIONS EXPERIENCE, OTHER PROFESSIONAL NURSING ORGANIZATIONS /Additional experience (community, political etc.):
2015-2016: Co-Vice President, Sustainer Council, Junior League of Winston-Salem
2015-2016: Recruitment Chair, Susan G. Komen Northwest NC Affiliate Race for the Cure 2012-2013: President, Junior League of Winston-Salem
2011-2012: President Elect, Junior League of Winston-Salem
2008-2009: Chair, Governance Task Force, Junior League of Winston-Salem
2008-2008: Secretary, Executive Committee Member, SECU Family House Board of Directors, Winston-Salem, NC
2007-2008: Member, Selections Committee, Great 100 North Carolina Nurses
2007-2008: Chair, Nominating Committee, Junior League of Winston-Salem 2005-2009: Board of Directors, SECU Family House, Winston-Salem, NC 2002-2004: Ask-the-Expert Consultant, LungCancer.org
2001-2005: Member, Board of Directors, UNC School of Nursing Alumni Association
2000 to present: Member, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society
2000 to present: Alpha Alpha Chapter, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society 1999-2000: University of North Carolina School of Nursing Advisory Committee
1998-2000: University of North Carolina Undergraduate Mentoring Program
1998-2006: Speakers’ Bureau and Community Volunteer, American Cancer Society
1998-2001: Member, Forsyth County (NC) Professional Nurses Committee American Cancer Society
Position Statement:
I have been fortunate to practice as an oncology nurse over the past 21 years as a staff nurse, nurse practitioner, educator, contractor / consultant, and manager. This work has encompassed inpatient and outpatient oncology areas, survivorship programs, end of life settings, and within our professional oncology nursing organization, providing me with strong insight into the needs of oncology nurses. I have strived throughout my career to not only improve the quality of care delivered to my patients, but have closely collaborated with interprofessional team members to improve care delivered across the healthcare system. I am a strategic thinker and committed to the personal and professional development of myself and those around me. I have worked to educate the community on the needs of patients with cancer and foster collaborations to increase available resources. I have served as a leader within my local chapter and nationally through multiple project teams and committees. Skills resulting from my leadership roles in other organizations complement those gained through my oncology experiences adding to my effectiveness as a leader. These experiences, combined with my adaptability and skills as a communicator and facilitator, make me uniquely qualified to serve on the ONS Board of Directors.
How have you advanced excellence in oncology nursing and quality cancer care? As an oncology nurse, I am committed to providing the highest quality of care for both patients with cancer and their families throughout their trajectory of care. I maintain personalized relationships with patients, caregivers, and staff and consistently work to promote open lines of communication among all. I have worked to develop evidence based educational programming and practice-related resources for oncology nurses and nursing organizations, thereby increasing knowledge and improving quality of care. These include nursing competencies, web courses, clinical practice guidelines / standards, journal articles, and textbook chapters on multiple topics of interest to oncology nurses. I serve as an expert content reviewer for projects such as Mosby’s Clinical Skills (oncology) and the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. I have worked to promote the benefits of oncology nursing certification on a local and national level, helping to ensure patients with cancer receive the best care possible. This includes work as an ONCC Advocate, oncology certified nursing review course chair and faculty, team member and Chair of the ONCC Certification News. I have served as both formally and informally as a mentor to oncology nurses and oncology nurse practitioners, assisting them to grow professionally, at varying points during their careers.
Provide a recent example of how you used innovation in your leadership experiences. Survivorship is an area of increasing attention and demand within cancer care. With advances in detection and emerging treatment modalities, patients are being diagnosed earlier and treated more effectively, leading to better outcomes and longer lifespans. Organizations such as the American College of Surgeon’s Commission on Cancer are including standards related to survivorship in their requirements for accreditation, which coupled with the growing numbers and needs of survivors, have led cancer centers across the nation to identify strategies to better care for this segment of the population. In my recent clinical role as the Nurse Practitioner in a newly created survivorship program, I was hired to establish and oversee the program for breast cancer survivors. This required a great deal of innovative thinking and strategizing to help determine best practices that not only met the needs of the patient population, but maintained accreditation standards and involved key clinicians and support personnel to ensure its success. Drawing upon my prior clinical experiences and knowledge, I was able to establish processes for the program and continually analyze and refine them to improve outcomes for our breast cancer survivors.
Provide a recent example of how you used advocacy in your leadership experiences. While working as the Nurse Practitioner for patients with breast cancer in our newly created survivorship program, one of my most important responsibilities was assisting patients and families in advocating for their needs. One of the more difficult long term challenges survivors face can be coping with the consequences of their treatment regimens. As oncology nurses, we know that treatments often lead to long and late term side effects that may go un- or under recognized by survivors and their primary care physicians. I had the fortunate opportunity to serve on a national expert panel of physicians, oncology nurses, and policy makers to establish the Breast Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines for Primary Care Physicians. These clinical guidelines, endorsed jointly by the American Cancer Society and American Society of Clinical Oncology, help guide primary care providers in the recognition and treatment of long and late term side effects in breast cancer survivors. The guidelines increase clinicians’ awareness of survivors’ needs and include a patient version to assist survivors in better advocating for themselves. These guidelines provided an important teaching tool for survivors and their caregivers in addition to their survivorship care plan and an effective resource for clinicians across the system.