From the Editor

TON July 2015 Vol 8 No 4

In this month’s issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON), we start our coverage of the news from the recent Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) 40th Annual Congress and the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Unsurprisingly, both conferences presented invaluable information to oncology professionals, and you’ll see more coverage in future issues.

At ONS, Betsy Shenkman, RN, PhD, discussed the importance of the HPV vaccine, telling audience members, “The HPV vaccine is cancer prevention, and you are the key.” Betsy and 2 fellow panelists addressed the topic of how oncology nurses and advanced practitioners can address barriers with parents to boost uptake of the vaccine. “Make a strong recommendation, start the conversation early, and focus on cancer prevention,” presenter Mildred Maldonado-Molina, PhD, stated, emphasizing that oncology professionals need to “welcome questions from parents, especially about safety.”

Our ASCO coverage starts with a discussion of adverse events associated with immunotherapy treatments. As immunotherapy is the “hot topic” in cancer, learning about these possible adverse events is vital knowledge for oncology nurses.

Julie Silver, MD, continues talking about the importance of bringing a “quality-of-life agenda to oncology care.” (See her first article, Cancer Prehabilitation: Important Lessons From a Best Practices Model, in the TON March issue.) She tells us how the STAR Program accomplishes the goal of making sure patients get the care they need and want.

Be sure to read about the ONE Award finalists—brief bios of these amazing colleagues appear on pages 16 and 17. Although we are close to asking the impossible, vote for 1 of these individuals to be the winner of the ONE Award. To cast your vote, go to the TON website at www.TheOncologyNurse.com/award. The winner will be announced at the Sixth Annual Navigation & Survivorship Conference in October 2015. We’ll publish the announcement and include more information about the winner in a future issue of TON.

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