According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of cancer survivors in the United States increased to 11.7 million in 2007—this compares to 3 million cancer survivors in 1971 and 9.8 million in 2001. These statistics show that survivorship is becoming more a part of oncology care, and indicate that oncology nurses are playing an increasing role in providing long-term comprehensive care for cancer survivors. This care not only encompasses the physical health of survivors, but also their emotional and psychosocial health.
Leslie Verner, an oncology nurse at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, tells us about an amazing retreat for adult cancer survivors called Camp Bluebird. Leslie states that “Being the director of Camp Bluebird has truly been the most challenging and also the most rewarding part of my career as an oncology nurse.” The story of Camp Bluebird illustrates how oncology nurses are meeting the wide-ranging needs of cancer survivors. Thank you, Leslie, for sharing this inspiring story.
This month’s reader poll asks if you talk to your patients about programs available for survivors. Please go to our website, www.TheOncologyNurse.com, to participate in the poll and tell us about your experiences with survivorship programs.
November is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. In this issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON), we spotlight the lung cancer–related news that came out of the recent European Cancer Congress. In addition, Cristi Radford discusses what is known about the inherited susceptibility to lung cancer in her Genetic Counseling column. As Cristi points out, knowledge about inherited susceptibility “is in its infancy.” Tara L. Plues provides a case-study example of using paclitaxel to treat a patient with non-small cell lung cancer.
Please let us know what you think of this issue of TON. Tell us what topics you want to see covered. We appreciate your feedback—positive and negative—about what you see in print and on the website. Email us at editorial@greenhillhc.com.
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