December 2013
Greater Sacramento
Oncology
Oncology Nursing Society
Kay Harse - President
President’s Message December 2013
GSCONS Annual Report
Jeannine Graves, our newsletter chair, suggested that I
name this issue’s column “annual report” because of all
the changes we’ve gone through in terms of the
Oncology Nursing Society national office this year, and
to highlight our chapter successes. I’m sure I won’t
capture it all!
Our September Survivorship Symposium – Debbie
Wilhoit from our program committee will do an
overview in this issue, but we had a wonderful
attendance at the meeting, and appreciated everyone’s
thoughtful comments and reviews of the program. Our
speakers, each very different in the aspects presented,
were very well received, and we got some great ideas
for our next symposium. Again, my thanks to everyone
who helped make the day a success, and to Michelle
Clark for her hard work.
Continued on page 4
From the Nominations
Committee: Call for
GSCONS Board Member
positions will go out in
February, 2014. Now is
the time to think about
your goals for 2014,
including participation
on the Board. Please
contact Bev Nicholson
for more information.
Educational News and Events
Calendar
January 14, 2013
Incyte – Josh Meier
jmeier@incyte.com
“Ruxolitinib (Jakafi) in the Treatment of Myelofibrosis”
Speaker: Ryan Iwamato, RN, NP, OCN
____________________________________________________________
February 11, 2014
Dendreon – Chris Wigaard
cwiggard@dendreon.com
“Provenge: For the Treatment of Advance Prostate Cancer for
Allied HealthCare Professionals”
Speaker: Nancy Zomoradian
Announcement
reminders for these
programs will be sent
out in advance of the
date
Board Members:
President:
Kay Harse
President-elect: Kristie Howlett
Program Co-Chair: Debbie Wilhoit & Michelle Clark
Treasurer: Dale Johnson
Director at Large: Jamie Lee
Secretary: Wilson Yen
Nominee Co-Chair: Beverly Nicholson & Cynthia James
Membership Co-Chair: Linda Lambert & Katherine Williams
Newsletter Chair: Jeannine Graves
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Dale Johnson
Scholarship News
GSCONS offers scholarship money to members who
request funds to attend Oncology seminars,
Congress and other educational opportunities.
Scholarship guidelines and forms may be found on
our virtual chapter website.
On September 27-29 I had the privilege of
attending the First Annual Scripps Cancer Care
Symposium in San Diego. Although Scripps has
offered symposiums in the past for both nursing
and advance practice, this was the first that
combined both levels. Attendees were allowed
to choose many of the workshops to attend
based on their specific need. This conference
allowed me to gain information and CE’s in
areas specific to my needs assessment for
continuing my OCN certification, as well as
valuable insights to bring back to my team at
UCD Comprehensive Cancer Center Infusion. I
also took the opportunity to visit Scripps’ Cancer
Center Infusion, and discuss best practices
related to staffing, scheduling, and acuities for
Infusion Centers.
There were also excellent presentations on
pharmacogenomics, radiologic studies, latest
discoveries in diagnosis and prevention,
palliative medicine, and prevention and control
of cancer in minority, disadvantages and
underserved populations.
The weather was incredible, San Diego was
beautiful, and I played my best golf game ever!
Thank you so much to the Greater Sacramento
Chapter of ONS, for providing me with a
scholarship, without which I would not have
been able to attend!
As wonderful as the Scripps Symposium was, it
did not compare to our chapter’s September 20th
Symposium on Survivorship! Having attended
both back-to-back, I am very impressed with the
quality of the educational experience we enjoyed
right here in Sacramento! We have many
incredible professionals locally with such a vast
amount of knowledge and experience! Thank
you again, to our local chapter, for providing
quality
educational
opportunities
and
scholarships to our members!
Highlights of the Symposium included an
excellent presentation by Chris D. Van Gorder,
FACHE on Health Car Reform. His positive,
solution-focused approach to many of the
challenges facing us as the nation’s healthcare
systems evolve, was a wonderful contrast to
much of the bitterness we frequently hear! He
presented a thorough and enlightening overview
of all the issues facing healthcare organizations,
as well as concepts and ideas to help face the
challenges.
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Continued from page 1
The Virtual Community! And transitioning national
members to be included in local chapters. We’ve seen a
big increase in our membership, by almost 200 people,
and are seeing higher meeting attendance. And what a
big change as all of the chapters now have the ability to
communicate via a dedicated website that highlights both
national and local chapter information. Misplace the
meeting announcement for the month? It’s there for you.
We continue to welcome your announcements, job
opportunities, educational opportunities, and special
events so that chapter members can be informed of what’s
happening in our region. We still encounter a few
technology bugs, but are making progress – Here’s the
link to bookmark - sacramento.vc.ons.org ! Or just
search Sacramento ONS and you’ll find it!
The ONS Chemotherapy Biotherapy Course –
transitioning from a traditional classroom model to online effective January 2014. Many of us are grappling
with the change in terms of lack of face-to-face answering
of questions for new learners, and trying to think at our
different institutions how to support this change in
learning format. The course should be offered every two
weeks on-line from what I last heard. As a reminder,
everyone who is due for renewal will need to take the
entire 20 hour course since it will be a certificate program.
A reduced price is available for current provider card
holders, and bulk pricing options are available. Here is
the link to the ONS FAQ page on the changes, pricing,
and other info.
http://ons.org/CNECentral/Chemo/FAQ. The new
website is up as of this week, and enrollment for January
2014 classes begins December 10th.
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Congratulations to Mary
Pare, RN for her
recognition for the 2013
Joyce Raley Teel Award.
This award by the Komen
Foundation recognizes
individuals, groups and
organizations that are
making a significant
difference in our breast
community by building
awareness, providing
support or raising
significant funds on behalf
of the Affiliate. Kudos
Mary!
(Continued from page 4)
The educational survey that we did early in the year told us quite a bit about all of you.
Respondents were from diverse settings, primarily clinic and infusion settings.
Members and non-members appreciate the current dinner programs that we have, but
also like to have opportunities to earn continuing educational opportunities, so our
program committee is working to provide them. People were willing to help pay for
dinner and meet at local hospital settings in order to allow us to have non-sponsored
meetings. And now………..2014!
Early in the New Year, we will have a separate meeting to invite interested people to
meet with the board and find out if they’d like to explore being involved more with the
local chapter – whether running for the board, assisting on committees, and learning
more about what ONS has to offer. More to follow on that! And Cynthia James and
Beverly Nicholson will be looking for potential interested candidates for our next
chapter election.
If you are a national ONS member – PLEASE look for an email from ONS that will
come in January/February for upcoming national officers – and VOTE! Last year we
had 21% of our chapter members vote for the national election… chapters receive
recognition for participation – I’d love to see us have greater participation this year.
They provide great bios on the nominees to help you in your voting decisions.
Remember that we will be having our Star Party at our May meeting at the Dante
Club. A time to recognize our oncology nursing stars – the people that make such a
difference to our patients and our units. Linda Lambert and Katherine Williams will
put out a call in the spring…we love to have chapter members with us to help us
celebrate these special individuals!
And ……it will be our chapter’s 25th anniversary. We still have several members who
were there at the start of “SONG” – Sacramento Oncology Nursing Group – the local
interest group that eventually became an official chapter. We look forward to you all
helping us celebrate!
I hope this is a happy holiday season for all.
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Now is Your Chance! Share your Talents and Leadership Skills with the
Greater Sacramento ONS Chapter
By Beverly Nicholson
The Greater Sacramento Chapter is looking for individuals who have a passion and
enthusiasm for oncology nursing and who wish to support other oncology nurses.
Opportunities include running for an office or committee chair position or volunteering to
serve on a committee in the chapter.
This year we are soliciting nominations for the following positions:
President-elect (this person serves a 1 year term as President-elect and then
automatically becomes president for a 1 year term)
Director at Large (2 year term)
Newsletter Committee Chairperson (2 year term)
Program Committee Chairperson (2 year term)
If you are not sure you are ready to take on a position on your own we have a mentorship
program. You can either volunteer to serve on a committee to learn the ropes or serve as the
co-Chairperson for a year or two before assuming responsibilities on your own. Other
positions and committees on the Board include: Membership Committee, Nominating
Committee, Secretary and Treasurer.
If you are interested in learning more please contact Cynthia James at
cynthia.james32@gmail.com or Beverly Nicholson at beverlynicholson@comcast.net or
talk to any Board member.