The World Health Organization’s Year of the Nurse didn’t go as planned in 2020. Instead, Americans were forced to navigate unprecedented stressors, but among the conflict, fear, and uncertainty, nursing remained the most trusted profession in the United States, earning a record-breaking 89% score on the 2020 Gallup Honesty and Ethics poll, four percentage points greater than the profession’s 2019 rating. Trust has to be earned, and not only have nurses done so, but they continue to foster and grow trust for in an unparalleled way.
Quick: what’s your first reaction when you hear the word criticism? Do you brace yourself for feelings of failure and put up a defensive wall? It’s hard to respond otherwise, but try to look at it differently. Criticism can be positive if we accept it with class and let it help us gain knowledge about ourselves.
Patients with cancer who experience unexpected and long-lasting treatment outcomes are considered exceptional responders, but researchers and clinicians had no insight as to why the patients did so well with treatment. Results of a new study now show that genomic characterizations of cancer can uncover genetic alterations that may contribute to the phenomenon, researchers reported in Cancer Cell.
Painful skin reactions may develop in as many as 95% of patients receiving radiotherapy treatments for cancer. Patients report that it affects their quality of life and that purchasing interventions to soothe their skin increases their out-of-pocket costs. Supporting patients who experience the side effect is critical for their well-being.
During its quarterly two-day meeting on November 5–6, 2020, the ONS Board of Directors held a joint session with the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation and Oncology Nursing Foundation boards of directors. The ONS Board also completed budget approvals and ongoing assessment of the membership, among other work. Highlights from those actions follow, and ONS members can review the full meeting minutes at ons.org/board-minutes.
When I sat for the very first Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse (CPON®) examination through the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation in 1993, I had no idea how obtaining my certification would positively affect my career. I was one of four nurses from the University of North Carolina Hospitals who felt strongly as a group that we could and should pursue our CPON® certification, and we all passed the exam together.
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating November as National Lung Cancer Awareness Month and supporting early detection of lung cancer, a crucial awareness with smoking on the rise among young adults.
To improve clinical trial availability, effectiveness, and diversity in the era of the COVID-19 coronavirus, National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials should adjust their design to increase use of telemedicine and remote informed consent, among other strategies, several NCI department leaders wrote in a commentary in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Immunocompromised patients with cancer are three times more likely to die from complications of the COVID-19 coronavirus. New resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide ideas for preventing infections like COVID-19 in patients with cancer.
Shortly after declaring victory in the 2020 president election, the Biden-Harris transition team created a bipartisan COVID-19 advisory board. Staffed by experts, the board was hailed as a science-driven committee eager to flatten the curve. However, it had one downfall: it lacked a nurse. In response to a viral petition for nurse representation, the transition team appointed Seattle, WA, nurse Jane Hopkins, RNMH, to the advisory board on November 28, 2020.