Oncology Nursing Society (ONS)

Geriatric Activities

Publications and Position Statements
Presentations, Workshops, and Seminars
Special Interest Groups
Education Modules, Programs, and Learning Tools
Awards

Publications and Position Statements

• Distributed approximately 95,000 copies of the ONS Institutes of Learning Brochure to oncology professionals in 2003
• Published a position "Oncology Nursing Society and Geriatric Oncology Consortium Joint Position on Cancer Care in the Older Adult"
• *Published Handbook for the Care of the Older Adult with Cancer, a resource handbook addressing issues related to the elderly that go beyond those encountered in basic nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist nursing programs
• Published articles related to aging in the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, including:
  • Support Offered to Caregivers of the Elderly
  • A Look at the Problems of Falls Among People with Cancer
  • From Research to Clinical Practice: Symptoms, Physical Functioning, and Quality of Life for Older Adults with Cancer
  • Assessing Pain in the Cognitively Impaired Older Adult with Cancer
  • Chemotherapy in the Elderly: Supportive Measures for Chemotherapy-Induced Myletoxicity
  • ONS Fourth Annual Institutes of Learning Conference Issue (2004)
  • Chemotherapy in the Geriatric Population (December 2004)
• Published articles on geriatric topics in the ONS News, the association's membership newsletter. Articles include:
  • Did You Miss IOL This Year? (2003, 2004)
  • Increase Your Understanding of Caring for Older Patients with Cancer (2003)
• Published articles on geriatric topics in the Oncology Nursing Forum, including:
  • Older Women and Breast Cancer Screening: Research Synthesis (Jan 2004, ONF)
  • Forum Focus: Shifting Perspectives: Gero-Oncology Nursing Research (March 2004, ONF)
  • Triggers of Uncertainty About Recurrence and Long-Term Treatment Side Effects in Older African American and Caucasian Breast Cancer Survivors (May 2004)
  • The Watchful Waiting Management Option for Older Men With Prostate Cancer: State of the Science (November 2004, ONF)

Presentations, Workshops, and Seminars

• Coordinated the 2003 National Cancer Nursing Research Conference, which included the following presentations on geriatric oncology topic areas:
  • Quality of Life of Older Men Receiving the Watchful Waiting Treatment for Prostate Cancer
  • Gero-Oncology Nursing Research
  • Patterns and Predictors of Sample Attrition in a Panel Survey of Elderly Cancer Patients and Family Caregivers
  • Delirium in Hospitalized Older Cancer Patients
  • Conceptual Dimensions of Neutropenia in Aging and Cancer: Research and Clinical Implications
• Held geriatric oncology sessions at the ONS annual Congress, including:
  • The Challenge of Pain, Assessment, and Management in the Elderly: Look Before You Leap (2001)
  • New Approaches to Breast Cancer Screening, Including Issues and Controversies in Surveillance of the Geriatric Population (2002)
  • Geriatric Cancer Care Across the Continuum (2004)
• Offered a "Geriatric Oncology Institute" educational session at the 2003 ONS Institutes of Learning
• Offered a geriatric assessment session at the 2004 ONS Nurse Practitioner Conference
• Plan to offer a session on "Polypharmacy and the Elderly" at the 2005 ONS Oncology Nurse Practitioner Conference

Special Interest Groups

• Gerontology / Oncology Focus Group -45 ONS members

Education Modules, Programs, and Learning Tools

• Recorded the onsite "Geriatric Oncology Institute" offered at the 2003 ONS Institutes of Learning. Divided the six hours of content into two sessions and made them available on the ONS Web site as a continuing education offering. Available online at www.vodium.com/mediapod/ons/
• ONS is developing a Geriatric Resource Center on the ONS Web site. A Web fellow from the ONS Web site editorial board will be selected in 2005

Awards

• ONS will offer an award for "Excellence in Cancer Care of the Older Adult" supported by the Oncology Nursing Society and Nurse Competence in Aging beginning with the 2006 ONS Annual Conference