Happy 28th Birthday, SDONS!
Fall 2014
SDONS...
Welcome to Fall, 2014!
...A professional organization with a personal touch....
News and notes from SDONS President Amy Nance Thompson....
1. It's that time again!! We are looking for volunteers who are interested in leadership roles in the
chapter. For the year 2015, SDONS members are electing Secretary and Presidentelect. Please consider nominating yourself (or an SDONS member) to run for an SDONS office.
To be considered by the Nominating Committee, please submit a paragraph expressing your
interest to sdons@yahoo.com or to Jane Underwood, SDONS Nominating Chair, at
junderwood2@cox.net. Deadline to submit your name for consideration by the Nominating
Committee is Saturday, Oct. 25. Ballots will go out in November. Election results will be
announced at the December Vendor Fair.
2. During Congress this year I discussed with Joan Kitson Hart about the schools of nursing
located in her home town. She remarked how the schools didn't have many oncology references or
learning materials. I don't know how much education the nursing students receive in the field of
oncology nursing. We talked a little bit about how it would be a good project to broaden the scope
of the students' learning experiences in oncology nursing, if students were willing to accept our
help. Ideas discussed were donations of texts, journals, and establishing website access.
At the last Board meeting we discussed making this idea a chapter project. Joan is planning a trip
home soon and will be trying to gather some information as to needs and interest. My thought is to
try and get funds donated from the Oncology Nursing Society and/or the Foundation through a
grant. Another thought is to make this a student-to-student project and to see if we have any
nursing students interested in participating in this project.
So this project proposal is in the early stages. Any suggestions or ideas are welcome. I/we are not
ready for donations at this point, but hope that by the Holiday Vendor Faire we will have some
project details in place. If you have any donations please hold on to them. An announcement will
be made when we have more information to share.
3. Once again, the Masons of California are supporting reimbursement for nurses, who earn
oncology nursing certification. This is a terrific opportunity! The Masonic Grand Lodge of
California has recently increased awards to $500 to an individual whose employer provides
reimbursement for certification fees, and $1,100 to an individual whose employer does not provide
reimbursement for certification fees. Here is the link to applications:
http://www.freemason.org/doc/By%20Your%20Side%20Program%20Application.pdf?id=20139.
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Other News and Announcements....
Membership: According to the national ONS roster list as of August, 2014, our SDONS
membership is 347 members! As a reminder...Local chapter membership dues changed in
Summer of 2013, based on the new policy from ONS (when ONS dues increased as of July 1,
2013). Your national ONS membership automatically signs you up for membership with the local
chapter i.e. SDONS) with $10 local dues included in your national ONS dues.
The 2014 Holiday Vendor Faire is scheduled Thurs. Dec. 4, so mark your calendar! This
annual event--this year at Tango Del Ray-- welcomes SDONS members, potential new members
and our supportive community of industry friends and sponsors. Our Faire gets better every
year...with a special focus on the auction featuring many donated baskets and gifts. Proceeds from
the auction build our SDONS scholarship funds. This is don't miss event! Your holiday spirit finds
that elusive holiday season spark by attending our Vendor Faire!
Congratulations to SDONS September Scholarship winner Olga Garcia, who won a $400
scholarship to advance her oncology knowledge (toward an educational course, class or conference
expense). Want to win? Just enter the scholarship drawing by sending an e-mail to
SD_ONS@yahoo.com by the Tuesday before the meeting of the scholarship drawing (next drawing
in October...) with a sentence telling us how you would use your scholarship if you won. If you do
win a scholarship, send our Treasurer the receipt for your educational program AND write up a brief
summary about your learning experience for an article for our SDONS e-newsletter. Then you will
be provided your scholarship check! Winners need not need be present at the meeting to win the
scholarship. (Limit: One scholarship win per year.) Consider nominating a colleague for a National ONS Award: Check out all the awards (and the
deadlines to nominate): http://ons.org/Awards/ONSAwards In general, the deadline to submit
for 2015 ONS awards is September 30, 2014.
Speaking of awards....consider nominating an SDONS colleague for the annual Gracia Award, The
Gracia Award was established to honor our beloved SDONS member Gracia Juarez, a former
SDONS secretary, who passed away in 2007 after a short illness. The award is given to an
SDONS member who has shown a special commitment to oncology nursing, demonstrated by a
willingness to go the extra mile to help others succeed as oncology nurses...providing excellence in
patient care, energies toward community outreach, mentorship to fellow nurses, and involvement in
ONS at the local chapter and/or national level. Please send nominations for the Gracia
Award to the SDONS e-mail (sd_ons@yahoo.com) or contact an SDONS Leadership Team
member. Nomination deadline is Sat, Nov. 22, 2014. The Gracia Award will be announced at our
Holiday Vendor Faire in December.......
SDONS on FaceBook LinkedIn: SDONS is on FaceBook and Linked In!!! Join our page to network
with other oncology nurses. See information about CEU’s, meetings, etc.
To join our page, go to:
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4394235&goback=%2Eanp_4394235_1338706156800_1
Feel free to start or contribute to discussions to make the site truly interactive. (NOTE: To help us
get more connected via social media and new technologies, contact our New Technologies
Communications Chair, Christine Izzo.
As a reminder....In addition to our yearly support of eight $400-scholarships for nonSDONS Leadership Team members, we continue to provide a $500/each scholarship opportunity
for SDONS Leadership Team members (four elected Board members and appointed Committee
Chairs). This was established as a strategy to support SDONS leadership participation.. So
consider serving as an SDONS officer or committee chair for the SDONS Leadership Team. (In
2015, the Team will be recruiting appointed chairs for Program and New Technologies
Communications, but all committees and projects welcome your help.) With more SDONS
members involved in chapter leadership, leadership succession planning occurs!
NOTE: Leadership Team members are not eligible for the eight $400/each scholarship drawings,
which our chapter holds four times/year.
++++++
SDONS Leadership Team (Officers and Committee Chairs)
Your 2014 SDONS Leadership Team is here to serve our membership. We welcome your ideas
and participation. The SDONS Leadership Team include:
President- Amy Nance-Thompson
President elect- Meloddie Neel Brooks
Treasurer- Eva Bariuan
Secretary- Kelly Bass
Program chair- Leah Marquardt
Membership chair- Sandii Weyerhaeuser
Community Outreach and Student Development chair- Paula Muehlbauer
Nominating chair- Jane Underwood
Fundraising chair - Dawn Huckabone
e-Newsletter- Ellen Carr & Laura Spriggs
New Technologies Communications chair- Chrstine Izzo
Past President- Laura Spriggs
(Contact information for any of the SDONS Leadership Team members is posted on the SDONS
Virtual Community site: http://sandiego.vc.ons.org/ See below a photo SDONS Leadership Team
members, who attended the January 2014 SDONS Leadership Team meeting.)
2014 SDONS Leadership
Team:
Front: Ellen Carr, Sandi
Weyerhaeuser, Francie Mercado,
Leah Marquardt
Back: Kelly Bass, Christine Izzo,
Amy-Nance Thompsom, Laura
Spriggs, Jane Underwood
++++++++++++++
....Reports from our SDONS
scholarship recipients...
From Joan Kitson-Hart....(photo above) I become reenergized this year after attending our Annual Congress (in
Anaheim). Each Congress is a unique and special
experience. Over the past 30 years I have been amazed at
the increasing number of nurses who identify themselves as
Oncology Nurses. We share a bond that has been formed
from the extraordinary experience of caring for patients with
cancer. ONS Congress allows us to share our experiences,
knowledge, research, approaches to educating our novice
nurses on their journey to expert practitioners...and even
Marlon
Saria....Fellow,
American Academy
of Nursing
how to plan for retirement. It is a time to open our minds
and rejuvenate, a time to reconnect with long lost or
forgotten colleagues and begin the foundation of new
friendships. We are motivated by an interesting variety of
speakers who encourage us to never give up, to strive to
Marlon Garzo Saria, MSN, RN,
reach goals we have set for ourselves.
AOCNS, was selected by the
We learn what is being discovered in the lab and
American Academy of Nursing
transitioned to the bedside as new therapies. We gain
(AAN) for induction as a Fellow in
insight into new ways to deal with old problems and
the Academy, one of the most
commiserate on the challenges of patient adherence to our
prestigious honors in the field of
increasingly complex regimens. Congress is that shot in the
nursing. Saria is an advanced
arm that we need from time to time when our frustration
practice nurse-researcher in the
peaks as we struggle to help patients cope with the next
neuro-oncology laboratory at
phase of their cancer journey. It is the feeling of validation
Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
we receive when we hear other nurses identify the identical
Marlon earned his Bachelor of
issues that we thought were ours alone.
Science in Nursing from the
At Congress you realize you are never alone. There are
University of the Philippines in
hundreds of other nurses that share many of your issues
Manila and his Master of Science in
and are struggling to find the answers. Reach out and
Nursing from the University of
connect with your fellow nurses to gain the support and
California, Los Angeles, where he is
strength you need to improve and solve the problems you
currently working toward his Doctor
face daily. It may just be a keystroke away. Nursing IS the
of Philosophy degree.
best job ever, but Oncology nursing REIGNS.
The AAN’s 2,200 fellows are
Nursing’s most accomplished
from Monsy Mitchell....(photo to left) I used my
leaders in education, management,
SDONS scholarship money for tuition to cover my Bachelors
practice and research. Marlon's
program; I am currently enrolled at University of Phoenix.
induction will take place during
I started the program August of 2013 and can finally see the
AAN’s annual meeting in October in
end since I have two classes left, including the one I am
Washington, DC.
currently enrolled.
Congratulations, Marlon!
I decided to further my education in order to broaden my job
opportunities, as well as to reach a long-term goal of
eventually becoming a nurse practitioner. Originally I was
going to start my Masters program in January 2015. But fate
has other plans and my family will be welcoming our third
child, which means I will have two children under two years
old! Since I like the little sanity I have left, I will wait a while
before jumping into the Masters program.
I would like to thank our SDONS chapter for the scholarship
and for camaraderie with members and friends.
Monserate (Monsy) Mitchell
Need Oncology
classes, courses,
CEUs?
For oncology nursing classes and
courses, check the ONS Connect
publication:
http://www.onsconnect.org/ or the
ONS website: http://www.ons.org/
Sheila Bedard featured in ONS
Connect,
September 2014:
Congratulations to our own Sheila Bedard, who is featured
+++++
in the September, 2014 issue of ONS Connect (page 17).
The issue, which includes articles covering the topic Aging
SDONS Dinner
and Health Care, highlighted Sheila in the Another
Perspective column, How Have You Maintained Your
Program Policy...
Involvement in Oncology Nursing into Retirement?
In the column, Sheila cited her active involvement in
As a reminder....Our SDONS
Dinner Program Policy:
The SDONS Leadership Team has
established these
guidelines concerning our dinner
meetings:
1) On the SDONS Virtual
SDONS, both as a clinical nurse for 20 years and now in
retirement. Sheila had served as our SDONS membership
Chair for 7 years, and was instrumental in clarifying and
organizing our membership roles and systems.
Among Sheila's comments in the column:

support our professional organizations by being
community site
(http://sandiego.vc.ons.org/ when
you log in to RSVP for our monthly
involved.

These nurses were generous with their time,
RN number. (Vendors require RN
teaching me leadership and giving me confidence
license number for attendance; they
dinner.) This streamlines the signin process and members can find
I have great respect for the nurses I have met in my
chapter and have made many valuable friendships.
dinner, remember to include your
need to have them prior to the
I believe oncology nurses have a moral obligation to
as a new nurse.

I share the important advice I learned from them
with new nurses: Always respect your patients and
your coworkers, listen to your gut feelings and don't
their seats sooner.
hesitate to ask questions when in doubt.
2) If you No Show two times for a
dinner in one year, you will no
Paula Muehlbauer, contributing editor of ONS Connect,
longer be able to attend dinners for
coordinated the writing of the column for the issue.
the remainder of the year. A No
Show is considered not coming to a
dinner the you have RSVP'd to.
When you are a No Show, this
prevents other members/guests
from attending our events.
3) No proxies. If you cannot attend
the meeting, your RSVP’d spot will
be given to the next person on the
waiting list to attend the meeting.
4) To make room (and welcome)
potential new members, a few spots
will be saved for potential new
members to attend the meeting. If
those spots are not filled a few days
before the meeting, others who
have RSVP’d (members/guests) will
be contacted to allow them to
SDONS Calendar
2014 SDONS Leadership Team meetings are scheduled
3-4 times/year on Wednesdays, The next Leadership Team
meeting is scheduled October 8, 6:00 p.m. at Amy NanceThompson's home. All SDONS members are welcome to
attend. Contact Amy for details and directions.
attend the meeting.
5) You can be a guest to a regular
SDONS dinner meeting once. Then
your guest status expires; you need
(...And for more information about CE-sponsored dinners
and SDONS dinners and events (listed below), go to the
SDONS virtual community site: http://sandiego.vc.ons.org/)
to join ONS to continue to come to
our dinner meetings. The exception
to this one-time guest status is
attending specially-promoted
SDONS meetings/events, held to
encourage as many guests to
attend as the venue allows
(i.e. Holiday Vendor Faire in
September 24, 2014: CE sponsored dinner by Medical
Learning Institute (MLI), Topic: Identifying, Preventing, and
Treating Serious Side Effects to Termination of Therapy in
Lymphoma, Speaker: TBD, Location: Season’s 52 (Napa
Room) 4505 La Jolla Village Drive San Diego, CA 90745,
Registration: 6:00 pm, Dinner: 6:30 pm, Presentation: 7:00
pm.
December).
6) If the RSVP dinner meeting list
does not meet its cut-off number for
September 26-28, 2014: Scripps Cancer Care Symposium:
A Nursing & Advanced Practice Provider Collaboration.
Doubletree/Hilton, San Diego Mission Valley. For more info:
max RSVPs, then students (current
http://www.scripps.org/events/second-annual-scripps-
non-SDONS members) may fill
cancer-care-symposium-september-26-2014
those slots as guests of SDONS.
This policy is in place to encourage
October 7, 2014: 1.5 CNE dinner program hosted by
students to attend meetings, who
Medtronics. Topic: Implantable Pain Therapies: Cancer Pain
have an interest in oncology nursing
Patient Management Course. Speaker: Vik Udani,
and in joining ONS (and SDONS as
M.D., Neurosurgical Medical Group, San Diego CA.
members). If those designated
Location: Season's 52 in La Jolla. (Registration form is
non- member student spots are not
posted on SDONS VC site; Then after completing form to
filled a few days before the meeting,
confirm registration, send to
others who have RSVP’d
programchairsdons@gmail.com)
(members/guests) will be contacted
to allow them to attend the
October 16, 2014 - SDONS dinner meeting. Topic:
meeting.
Myeloma. Speaker and Location TBD. Dinner/Speaker
supported by Onyx Pharmaceuticals.
And it cannot be stated often
enough: PLEASE BE
November 7, 2014 (Friday): Light the Night Walk
COURTEOUS AT OUR
(Leukemia & Lymphoma Society): Petco Park' starts 4:30
MEETINGS. SDONS continues to
p.m.. For more information: http://www.lightthenight.org/sd/
be generously supported by our
sponsoring vendors, who provide
November 20, 2014: 1.0 CEU dinner program by hosted by
educational dinner meetings for our
Paradigm Medical. Topic: B-cell malignancies. Speaker:
members. "Courtesy" means what
TBD. Location: TBD. (NOTE: No SDONS monthly meeting
we were taught in grade school--
in November)
attentive to our speakers (read: no
talking during the
November 21-23, 2014: Susan G. Komen 3-day. For more
presentations), showing appreciatio
information:
n and support to our hosts and the
http://www.the3day.org/site/PageServer?pagename=learn_a
restaurant staff and being respectful
bout_cityl_SD_landing
to our speaker, meeting guests and
to your fellow SDONS members.
December 4, 2014: SDONS annual Holiday Vendor Faire.
Location: Tango Del Rey, 3567 Del Rey St, San Diego, CA
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92109.(858) 581-1114
Our Gallery below
April 23-26, 2015: 40th Annual ONS Congress, Orlando,
of photos from
FL
recent SDONS
meetings and
events...
From Sept meeting, Suzi Rundell, Paula Muehlbauer and
Myra Williams.
From June meeting, Carolyn Scott,
Donna Engelbert, Suzi Rundell
From Sept meeting, Sheila Bedard and Brianna Daum
From June meeting, Chawn Tipton
(Milennium Pharmaceuticals),
Meloddie Brooks, Franci
Mercado, Emma Lopato
From Sept meeting, Dinner Speaker Laura Brennan, from
UC Davis, (center) is flanked by Celgene representatives
Joe O'Neill (L) and Cheryl Bailey (R)
From June meeting, Ali Davis
and Natalie Bouldin
From June meeting, Olga Garcia
and Freci Portugal:
From Sept meeting, UCSD students
Shu Zheng, Karizma Carolino and
member Amanda Tarzia
From Sept meeting, SDSU students
Matthew Wittmann, Malayna
Tolley and Crystal Le
From Sept meeting, Claire McLean
and Olga Garcia.
From Sept 2014 meeting, SDONS
president Amy Nance
Thompson and Program chair
Leah Marquardt
At July meeting, Jane
Underwood and Sharon
From July meeting, Cindy
From July
Stephens and Monsy
meeting, Margarita Jauregui
Mitchell
and Nadia Youssef
Stone
At July meeting, speaker
Jacy Spong and Cheryl
Bailey from Celgene
At Feb meeting, Jacqui
Schoppe with Amanda
Goforth, our "mystery"
member from Feb e-
At July meeting, Suzi
Rundell and Sandi
Weyerhaeuser
newsletter photos.
SDONS is the local chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. It is committed to promoting quality cancer care through
nursing research and education and community service. The SDONS meetings, in general, are scheduled every 3rd
Thursday of the month. Annually, SDONS provides approximately $5,000 in educational scholarships and awards to
local oncology nurses.
For more information about SDONS, please contact sd_ons@yahoo.com.
And to submit articles, announcements or photographs for the SDONS e-newsletter,
contact e-Newsletter Editor Ellen Carr at ecarr18@cox.net.
Copyright © 2014
San Diego Oncology Nursing Society
(SDONS)