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| Volume
5, Issue 1, April 2005 |
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| Coordinator’s Message Enhance and Promote the Image of the SIG  Cynthia
Ciaschi, MS, RN, NPRochester, NY cynthia_ciaschi@urmc.rochester.edu As the end of my term as SIG coordinator draws near, I am reminded of the anticipation and enthusiasm with which I entered into the role. Those of you who graciously volunteered to participate in a work group or on a task force, please accept my sincere thanks. Those who took the time to write an article for the newsletter, we appreciate your effort. As the saying goes, "It takes a village." This is a young SIG that was established because of the efforts of nontraditional nurses in industry who had a vision and a will "to enhance and promote the image of professional oncology nurses functioning in industry and pharmaceutical roles." In the past year, we have increased our membership by approximately 50%. Now, we are called on by the membership to provide something in return. To nurture and further this growth, we must look to the results of the recent needs assessment (conducted in December 2004) to provide direction. |
The Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing SIG Newsletter is produced by members of the Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing SIG and ONS staff and is not a peer-reviewed publication. |
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| Special Interest Group Newsletter April 2005 |
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Coordinator’s
Message As the end of my term as SIG coordinator draws near, I am reminded of the anticipation and enthusiasm with which I entered into the role. Those of you who graciously volunteered to participate in a work group or on a task force, please accept my sincere thanks. Those who took the time to write an article for the newsletter, we appreciate your effort. As the saying goes, "It takes a village." This is a young SIG that was established because of the efforts of nontraditional nurses in industry who had a vision and a will "to enhance and promote the image of professional oncology nurses functioning in industry and pharmaceutical roles." In the past year, we have increased our membership by approximately 50%. Now, we are called on by the membership to provide something in return. To nurture and further this growth, we must look to the results of the recent needs assessment (conducted in December 2004) to provide direction. The majority of those who responded expressed the desire to participate in a work group within the SIG. Submitting topics for Congress and Institutes of Learning, planning SIG activities at Congress, acting as a mentor, writing an article for the newsletter, serving as an officer of the SIG, and helping with the Web site, virtual community, and newsletter were additional interests indicated. I had a wonderful opportunity in this chance to serve, and now, as the change in leadership approaches, I have no doubt that that the goals of the SIG will be carried forward. The momentum is growing, cancer shows no signs of decreased resistance, and time waits for no one. So, my friends, keep up the good work and stay in touch. It has been my pleasure to be in "your village."
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| Special Interest Group Newsletter April 2005 |
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Join Us at the SIG Planning/Networking Meeting at the ONS
30th Annual Congress
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The
Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing SIG planning/networking meeting will
be held in conjunction with the ONS 30th Annual Congress in Orlando,
FL. The meeting will be Thursday, April 28, from 5:15-6:30 pm in the
Orange County Convention Center, West Building, Room 224CD. |
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Member
Spotlight  Kathleen
Reed, RN, MSEssex, CT Kathleen.reed@pharma.novarits.com Hello! My name is Kathleen Reed, and Sharon Bowling, RN, BSN, OCN®, has asked me to introduce myself to you as I transition into the Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing SIG Newsletter editor position. First, I want to thank Sharon for this opportunity to become actively involved in our SIG and in ONS. As a clinical nurse, I was active in ONS and recall the development of the SIGs to meet the specialized needs of the membership. As an industry nurse, I am pleased that we have developed our own SIG and have the newsletter as a forum to discuss the opportunities and challenges that we face locally, regionally, and nationally on a daily basis. Second, I want to thank the nurses who have been my friends and mentors during my 22 years as an oncology nurse. These colleagues have been an invaluable source of wisdom and support—qualities that I know each of you appreciate in your own colleagues. Maintaining this group when a nurse moves into pharmaceutical industry nursing is particularly important. I hope that the newsletter continues to provide the platform for pertinent discussions related to our various positions and will provide a source of knowledge and support through membership contributions. I want to reach out to each and every one of you and encourage you to share your ideas and thoughts through this venue. The newsletter will only be as good as you make it. Background I started my clinical nursing career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, as a surgical oncology nurse. I completed my master's in oncology nursing at Rush University in Chicago, IL, and then headed back east to work as a clinical nurse specialist in radiation oncology at Beth Israel in Boston, MA. During this time, I had the opportunity to assist my local chapter as a program co-chair and then president. I also was able to participate on the Clinical Practice Committee and act as the Radiation Therapy SIG liaison during the development and publication of our subspecialty's first nursing manual. After leaving Boston, I did a bit of traveling and then settled in southern Maine. I had the opportunity to work as a hospice nurse and manager. After three years, my husband's work required relocation, this time to the southern New England and New York. During this period, I met Linda Caldwell, RN, and Beverly Casarico, RN—pioneers in pharmaceutical industry nursing. I joined Schering Oncology/Biotech as a patient care consultant. I worked in this dynamic position for a year and a half and then was able to move into oncology sales. In 2004, Novartis Oncology underwent an expansion, and I again had the opportunity to join a great team. My current position is in medical affairs as an oncology regional scientific manager in New England. Pharmaceutical Industry Nursing Makes a Difference! My story is not a unique one. We all have taken positions in the pharmaceutical industry for various reasons and have been provided with opportunities that we could not have expected when we were providing direct care at the bedside. It is our clinical experience, though, that makes us so valuable to our companies. I believe our knowledge and compassion for the ultimate customer—the patient—is reflected in the new behaviors we see in our non-nursing industry colleagues. I believe it is reflected in the words and tone of our companies. I believe that nursing, once again, by virtue of its primary focus, the patient, is making a difference. I want to ask something of each of you. Think about how you have made a positive impact in the pharmaceutical industry. Recognize the value you brought to the situation, and reflect on how it may have changed "the rules." If you are interested, pass it on to me. We could look at these situations as critical junctures in the pharmaceutical industry. These best practices can be shared in our newsletter. And it may be your best practice that provides the wisdom and support your colleagues may need. Thank you, and I look forward to meeting you at our SIG meeting at the upcoming ONS 30th Annual Congress.
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What’s the Buzz in Oncology Today?  Jennifer
Matthews, RN, MS, APRN, BC, OCN®Homer, NY jennrsed@hotmail.com Medicare reimbursement seems to be the topic at the forefront of all oncology providers' minds right now. Why wouldn't it be? This is their livelihood, and it is vitally important to the business side of practice. It is a topic that immediately pulls people into the conversation. Everyone in oncology seems to have a viewpoint or opinion to contribute, and a universal attitude of distrust, worry, anger, frustration, fear, and even contempt for the "system" right now appears to exist. I guess that is rightly so, because the last thing providers want to worry about are the financial aspects of the day-to-day functioning of providing optimal care to patients. So much is happening in the science and understanding of cancer—the burgeoning research, development of new targeted therapies and biologics, and the increased access to information through the media (particularly the Internet) that patients are exposed to and want clarification of from their physicians—that keeping up with the information overload is quite daunting. In the face of all of this time-consuming information intake, how can anyone manage to keep abreast of the constant, even minute-to-minute changes in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services system of coding, billing, and providing documentation required by the Medicare system now? As a physician I was speaking to so succinctly put it, "Even if you get it done right today, and that is doubtful, they'll change the requirements tomorrow, and you have to learn to do it all over again." This reflects the frustration that is becoming ubiquitous in oncology today. It is ironic that at a time when such tremendous gains are occurring in our understanding of this disease process and novel approaches to treatment that seem to finally be moving away from toxic chemical therapy to moving forward on a molecular level, some oncologists are worried that they will not be able to afford to provide this treatment to patients. Recently, I had a conversation with an oncologist who said, "How can I lose money on treatments I give my patients and manage to stay in practice?" She also questioned another thing that gives pause to wonder, "In what business would you be expected to lose money on the product you deliver? Do you think commercial pharmacies sell drugs for less than or just what they pay to acquire them or for 6% over acquisition cost? No, I don't believe that; they have overhead to cover just as I do as an oncologist." From here our conversation digressed to what professional atheletes make a year and, well, I am sure you can guess that we did not come up with any solutions to the financial worries of the drug reimbursement situation that day. So, this story has no moral, no call to action; I am just relating what I am sure you could overhear in the lunchroom or hallway of almost any oncology practice in the United States today. But, as I said initially, this is a hot topic in oncology right now that is superceding all of the new drugs and pipelines, and you can surely get people talking about it.
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Everyone Else Has a Support Group, Why Not Oncology Nurses?  Vicki
Beaufort, RN, BSN, OCN®Ligonier, PA vickib1@peoplepc.com As part of my nurse educator responsibilities, I provide a variety of oncology programs for continuing education credits. Under the specific program that addresses psychosocial wellness in the oncology practice for nursing, stress management is by far the most requested topic. Oncology nurses are struggling to keep all of their demanding tasks in their lives from draining their spirit. This program addresses how to keep these demands from being all consuming. Recently, I arrived at an office to present this program and found that I would have only 30 minutes to deliver the presentation. The content of the presentation requires an hour of time. With this fact in front of me, I decided to use the key parts of the presentation to dialogue with the nurses and have them identify their stressors as well as the physical effects that they have encountered lately because of poor coping skills. We discussed why they chose oncology nursing for their practice as well as why they stay in oncology. Their answers were varied, as you may well imagine. But the most common reason that was voiced was an acknowledgement of the reciprocity of caring that occurs between patients with cancer and their nurses. Although the rewards of oncology nursing are evident, the mental toll that is exacted at times is quite daunting. Historically, nurses do not do a very good job of self care. We are so focused on meeting any and everyone else's needs that we fail to recognize when our own cup needs to be refilled. At that point, going to work each day becomes just doing your job. No energy is left to spend on personal renewal. Therefore, the recognition of the necessity to support each team member becomes crucially important. As a group and as individuals, these nurses gave voice to their thoughts of various ways that they might address the identified stressors on the flipchart we had used to record their responses. Although not every problem had an answer which was readily fixable, the nurses voiced the empowerment that they felt at taking time to do some problem solving for their team as well as individually. At the end of our time together, I suggested to the group that they consider this session as the first official meeting of their newly formed support group and make this part of their best practices experience. As topics for further discussion, I suggested that they use as the focus of their next meeting communication skills with the various other oncology team members as well as a session dedicated to team building techniques. The message to these nurses was to allow themselves the time and the luxury of self-renewal. This is essential if we, as nurses, want to be able to offer the best oncology nursing care possible to our patients and their caregivers. Indeed, without this practice, no future oncology nurses will want to take our places because the picture that they see will be less than inviting. Many, many types of support groups are in existence for good reason. They provide proven benefit to their participants. Do we, as committed oncology nurses, deserve any less? Let us strive to develop formal support groups for oncology nurses so that the practice of caring for these patients will only improve by well-balanced and well-supported nurses.
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SIG Newsletter Editor Introduces Her Successors  Sharon
Bowling, RN, BSN, OCN®Atlanta, GA ssummerfield@ctiseattle.com Thank you for the opportunity to serve as our SIG newsletter editor over the past two years. I want to personally thank Martine Avello, RN, BSN, OCN®, and Cynthia Ciaschi, RN, MS, ANP, for their help and support. Kathleen Reed, RN, MS (kathleen.reed@pharma.novartis.com), and Vicki Beaufort, RN, BSN, OCN® (vickib1@peoplepc.com), have agreed to be the new SIG editors. Please touch base with Kathleen and Vicki and provide them with any articles or topics for the newsletter. I'm looking forward to seeing you at Congress.
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Membership Information SIG Membership Benefits
A great way to stay connected to your SIG is to join its Virtual Community. It’s easy to do so. All you will need to do is
All members are encouraged to participate in their SIG’s discussion forum. This area affords the opportunity for exchange of information between members and nonmembers on topics specific to all oncology subspecialties. Once you have your log-in credentials, you are ready to subscribe to your SIG’s Virtual Community discussion forum. To do so,
As an added feature, members also are able to register to receive their SIG’s announcements by e-mail.
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| Special Interest Group Newsletter April 2005 |
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Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing SIG Officers
Know someone who would like to receive a print copy of this newsletter? To view past newsletters click here. ONS Membership/Leadership Team Contact Information Angie Stengel, Director of Membership/Leadership Diane Scheuring, Manager of Member Services Carol DeMarco, Membership/Leadership Administrative Assistant The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) does not assume responsibility for the opinions expressed and information provided by authors or by Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Acceptance of advertising or corporate support does not indicate or imply endorsement of the company or its products by ONS or the SIG. Web sites listed in the SIG newsletters are provided for information only. Hosts are responsible for their own content and availability. Oncology Nursing Society
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