Another successful year at Camp Raising Spirits

Friday, May 30^th to Sunday, June 1^st, 2008

Laurelville Mennonite Camp in Mt. Pleasant, PA

Camp Raising Spirits celebrated its 15th anniversary as a project near and dear to the members of the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of ONS. "Camp" demonstrates the commitment and dedication of health care providers who know what a difference can be made in the lives of people with cancer by giving them a place to laugh, lounge, and live life a little differently. Camp Raising Spirits provided an excellent getaway experience for cancer patients and their guest. 

Check the photo gallery under the NEWS tab for pictures submitted by Anne Kaufman of this year's activities!

A great article about Camp Raising Spirits appeared in the Tribune Review on Monday, June 9th.  Check it out!

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_571518.html

Oncology nurses were proudly recognized for their contributions to cancer care in a recent segment on the local public television series OnQ Magazine on WQED.  Producers at WQED had been wanting to offer a series about nursing, and through collaboration with the ONS National Office, developed an outstanding segment about oncology nurses.  The segment features Rea Coniglio, RN, OCN, an oncology nurse at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside and her patient.  Our own GPC-ONS member and ONS CEO, Paula Rieger, was also interviewed and highlighted the special talents and unique gifts of the oncology nurse.

Watch the entire segment at  http://www.wqed.org/ondemand/onq.php?id=333

Check out the special features about nursing on the WQED website:  http://www.wqed.org/tv/onq/specials/nursing.php

ONS has partnered with the Skin Cancer Foundation and the Road to Healthy Skin Tour. This tour will be making stops across the country offering skin cancer screenings and providing the tools to help people protect their skin. To make this tour a success, we need your help.  The Skin Cancer Foundation has joined forces with AVEENO (a Johnson & Johnson sunscreen product), the Rite Aid Corporation and Columbia Sportswear to fund a 38 foot mobile screening vehicle equipped with two exam rooms. We are now reaching out to nurses to perform the screenings. According to AAD guidelines, residents, physician’s assistants, nurse practitioners and qualified nurses can also perform the screenings if a board certified dermatologist is present. Tour dates and locations can be found at http://www.skincancer.org/content/view/294/.

We hope you will volunteer to perform the screenings and gain added visibility in your community. Screening hours will be between 10 AM and 4 PM or adjusted based on the screener’s availability.  Also, if you know of a dermatologist who might be interested in this program, please forward this message to them.

For more information, or to volunteer your time, please contact Evan Watkins at (212) 725-5176 or ewatkins@skincancer.orgThank you for your support and we look forward to hearing about your community involvement experiences!

7/25     Fri.            MONROEVILLE             PA           Rite Aid    4011 William Penn Highway
7/26     Sat.           PITTSBURGH                PA           Rite Aid    2270 Noblestown Road
7/27     Sun.          SEVEN FIELDS             PA           Rite Aid    100 Seven Fields Boulevard 

The #1 Conference for Oncology Nurses! 

The 33^rd Annual ONS Congress lived up to this reputation!  More than 5,000 oncology nurses and health professionals were in attendance May 15-18^th in Philadelphia, PA, including 24 members of the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter.  A parade (lead by the famous Philadelphia Mummer’s Band included 200 international nurses from 23 countries, members of the Philadelphia Chapter and several area chapters, and the ONS Board of Directors) served as the opening for this amazing conference. 

A non-traditional keynote address was offered by Patrick “Lips” Houlahan, a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet instructor and pilot.  His provocative message offered comparisons between the role of the fighter pilot with the oncology nurse and the significance of staying focused and "never losing sight of the ground”. 

For nurses, that ‘attitude check barometer’ is engaged when we consider the patient’s well-being and safety FIRST.  In health care today, we are bombarded with multiple demands for our attention, and like pilots, are at risk for “task saturation”.  Houlahan referred to this insidious phenomenon as a ‘silent killer’ and cautioned nurses to avoid “channeled attention”, where we can become so focused on a particular problem and a single solution that we fail to realize the unintended consequences of not considering other alternatives. 

His leadership lesson in the Flawless Execution Model encouraged nurses to plan, brief, execute, debrief, and win.  He stressed the importance the debriefing phase and offered the example of the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels as a group that debriefs after every show to examine the process and learn from mistakes in a nameless and rank less session focusing on ‘not who is right, but what is right’.  Lieutenant Colonel  Houlahan was well briefed for this presentation, not only by the Congress Team and ONS staff, but by his mother, Mary Jean Houlahan, an oncology nurse from West Palm Beach, Florida who proudly watched his flawless execution from the first row of the lecture hall! 

This year’s ONS Congress included multiple advanced and introductory sessions addressing content across the cancer care continuum.  Highlights included the “Bench to the Bedside” lecture addressing the role of cancer prevention in the future of cancer care.   The impact of our country’s presidential election was marked with a surprise visit from Governor Ed Rendell and a special session on How the Candidates Stand on Priority Issues for Oncology Nurses. 

The ONS Clinical Lecture featured Jeri Ashley, RN, MSN, AOCN presenting “Pain Management – Nurses in Jeopardy” addressed common myths associated with pain management.  Jeri received an enthusiastic standing ovation when she ended her amusing and poignant lecture by singing the inspirational song “What a Wonderful Day”!  It is worth ordering the CD’s from Congress just to listen to this presentation! 

Walking into opening ceremonies, I always get cold chills when I see 5,000 oncology nurses who are as dedicated to excellence in cancer care as I am.  I am grateful to our chapter for the scholarship that allowed me to attend Congress and to represent our chapter.  Next year the ONS Congress will be held April 30-May 3^rd in San Antonio, TX. 

Check out highlights from this year’s ONS Congress at www.ons.org and learn more about how you can plan to attend this #1 Cancer Nursing Conference next year!  Check out pictures of GPC-ONS members at Congress by visiting our Photo Gallery under the NEWS tab at the top of the page!

Laura Fennimore, RN, MSN

The GPC-ONS Board voted to donate $500 in support of the ONS Foundation Silver Anniversary Campaign.  This campaign will serve to support the endowment for the Foundation to ensure ongoing support of nursing education, scholarships, and research for our future as oncology nurses.  Individual support of the ONS Foundation is important as well.  As a charitable organization, the Foundation relies on the voluntary support of individuals, corporations, and foundations to fulfill the needs of oncology nurses today.

Do your part today....  make a gift of $36 dollars or more in honor of the 36,000 ONS members and other oncology nurses that care each dach for patients with cancer!  Visitwww.onsfoundation.org to make a gift online.

The ONS staff job shadowing program provided an opportunity for several staff members to shadow an oncology nurse for a day. Staff members got to experience first-hand what an oncology nurse does on a daily basis. Here is a sample of what ONS national staff learned from GPC-ONS members!

Kristin Hughes, Education Team administrative assistant: On February 1, I arrived at West Penn Hospital at 8:15 am. I followed the arrows on the floor to find the elevator that would take me to the sixth floor medical short stay unit. When the elevator door opened, I was greeted by two nurses. Stacey Walsh, RN, read my name tag and ushered me back downstairs, saying, “The meeting probably already started but we will slip you in.” I went down to the third floor and entered a little meeting room where 10 nurses from different departments were holding a weekly update meeting. I was handed an agenda and given a seat at the table. I was surprised to see so many different departments independently working together to maintain and achieve unity throughout the hospital. Each voluntarily brought her expertise and constructive opinions and suggestions. The rest of the day was spent touring the different departments, including the short-stay chemo unit and bone marrow transplant and testing labs. I watched a patient have his blood circulated through an aphaeresis machine to remove the plasma. I was shown how every action was thoroughly documented on the patient charts and how department records are kept in the computer files. In all, I was shown an amazing world that our work at ONS contributes to. I saw the confidence in which nurses referred to our printed material and used our policies as their own. I gained a greater appreciation for the work we do, and I thank everyone involved in making this happen.

Read more here. Special THANKS to all the oncology nurses who participated in this experience!

The program involves training Parish Nurses from Pittsburgh and surrounding counties on the importance of breast cancer screening and to provide them with the education to take back to their local parishioners and ultimately increase screening for breast cancer.

Lawrence Wickerham, MD and Margaret Rosenzwieg, PhD, CRNP-C, AOCN will provide content to the Parish nurses on breast cancer risk, screening, and a treatment overview.  We will also plan to have vendors available to discuss screening resources and take-home information available to the attendees.  Finally, the program will look at how to minimize barriers to screening and discuss the best strategies to overcome this issue. 

This program will be held later this fall.  If you know a Parish Nurse in your community, spread the word about this terrific program.  Contact Patti Patterson or Kristin Baileys for more information. 

GPC-ONS  2008 Joseph Schafer Award 

The Joseph W. Schafer, Jr. Award was established by GPC-ONS in order to commemorate Mr. Joseph W. Schafer, Jr. who volunteered with the chapter providing enormous contributions to the evolution and growth of the GPC Chapter.  GPC-ONS offers the Joseph W. Schafer Award in order to recognize and reward any registered nurse in the Pittsburgh oncology nursing community who exemplifies the truest sense of the “Volunteer Spirit.” 

The winner of 2008 Joseph W. Schaefer Award was Renee Gorczyca.  Renee received $250 from the chapter at the Celebration Dinner.  She was nominated by Dawn Wentley. 

GPC-ONS Exemplar Award

GPC-ONS offers the Exemplar Award in order to recognize and reward any registered nurse who exemplifies oncology nursing practice which has made a difference in the life of a cancer patient; a family who is supporting and coping with a loved one’s cancer or a nurse providing care to cancer patients and their families.  Also, GPC-ONS acknowledges the GPC member who recognizes as well as acknowledges the performance of exemplary nursing practice in the oncology field.  Any member of the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter (GPC) of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) may nominate a fellow GPC colleague for this award. 

The winner of the 2008 Exemplar Award is Marjorie Love Leslie, CRNP.  Margie was awarded $100 from the chapter at the Celebration Dinner!  She was nominated by Anna Vioral, who received $25 as well for this nomination.

Misplaced your copy of the latest GPC-ONS newsletter?  Click here for a copy!

Special thanks to our faithful newsletter editor, Cheryl Lenhart!

Thanks to everyone who completed the chapter needs assessment that was recently distributed.  Approximately 75 members with active email addresses were surveyed earlier this year.  We had an excellent response rate of almost 41%! 

You told the GPC-ONS Board that the top 3 reasons that you belong to the chapter include:

1. Education
2. Professional Growth
3. Networking

Click here if you would like to read more results from our most recent needs assessment.

Now available is the new 6-Card set of ONS PEP Cards with all new topics. With your purchase, you'll also receive FREE, the first four ONS PEP Cards. To sustain the ONS PEP project, a small fee will be charged to cover costs of future cards. Visit http://esource.ons.org/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=KTPU0010 to order your package today.