The Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing (PIN) SIG supported a well-attended and very interactive session titled "Maximizing Funding Support in the New Healthcare Compliance Era." Presenters included Sherry Greifzu, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, Margie Hickey, RN, MSN, OCN^®, and Michele McCorkle, RN, MSN.

The information was well received. Attendees asked many questions and eagerly sought information to guide them through the process of applying for grant monies from pharmaceutical companies.

Kudos to our presenters, Sherry and Margie, and a huge thank you for all the time and effort that went into the program! I would also like to extend a special thank you to Michele McCorkle from OES for her participation.

I also want to recognize Judith DeGroot, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, Bertie Ford, RN, MS, AOCN^®, and Laura Benson, RN, MS, ANP, AOCN^®, for their appointments as ONS Nominating Committee member, director-at-large, and secretary, respectively.

1. Taking the examination
2. Accumulating 1,500 patient care or clinical hours
3. Completing the Oncology Nursing Certification Points Renewal Option

Please note that industry nurses must provide evidence of two of the three options for recertifying.

A note of thanks…
Please join me in thanking the following members for their participation in workgroups for the 2006 topic submission process: Margie Hickey, Sherry Greifzu, Gena Middleton, Susie Newton, Debbie Mercier, Elise Carper, Bertie Ford, Carol Bezick, Lani Moss, Jamie Myers, and Christine Pence.

Thank you to Kathleen Reed, RN, MS, our newsletter editor, for the many hours she donates to keeping us informed and whose patience is unending.

Finally, thank you to all of our members and guests who attended our planning meeting this year. We had great discussions that will guide the SIG over the next year. The networking we accomplished over our wine and cheese refreshments was especially satisfying.

Member Spotlight
Meet New ONS Director-at-Large Bertie Ford

With great pleasure, I currently represent the membership as a director-at-large on the ONS Board of Directors. I serve in this capacity along with another member of our SIG, Laura Benson, RN, MS, ANP, AOCN^®, who is serving her last year as secretary. The board has six director-at-large positions, and we each serve for three years. The following is an abbreviated listing of our responsibilities.

• Attend four face-to-face board meetings, as well as Congress and Mentorship/Leadership Weekend (which include board meetings).
• Participate in monthly conference calls.
• Keep abreast of ONS activities.
• Assist and monitor the development and implementation of mechanisms to track ONS board activities and time commitments.
• Participate in strategic planning and priority setting for ONS.
• Act as a voice for the society.
• Serve as a role model for ONS members, upholding ONS's mission, vision, and values, and serve as a voice for ONS as requested.
• Collaborate with other board members in defining, developing, or directing the development of society positions and backgrounders on significant issues.
• Identify issues and strategically advocates for oncology professionals and patients with cancer through legislative, educational, financial, and grassroots efforts.
• Serve as a board liaison and collaborator with the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation, OES, ONS Foundation, or Steering Council.
• Model and actively promote ethical decision making.
• Participate in annual board appraisal.
• Participate in the evaluation of the CEO.
• Perform special assignments as requested by the president, CEO, or Board of Directors.
• Attend meetings representing ONS as requested and able.
• Actively participates in the assessment of ONS staffing needs and staff compensation and the development of ONS volunteer policies and procedures.

In June, we met for the new members' first board meeting and orientation. We reviewed board survival guidelines, how the board does business, policies, legal issues such as fiduciary responsibility, conflict of interest, and due diligence.

Jeff DeWalt, CPA, ONS chief financial officer, reviewed our financial responsibilities and statements. We reviewed our resources such as bylaws, strategic plan, outcome measures for the strategic plan, and the ONS policy manual. We met with ONS staff and discussed staff-volunteer relations and were able to get to know each other as new board members. We had an excellent speaker, Michael Kumar, who presented a workshop about enhancing nonprofit governance. We also had an excellent presentation by Carolyn Duronio, of ReedSmith LLP, who reviewed our fiduciary responsibilities as a nonprofit organization. Overall, the retreat was excellent and well executed and served to prepare us for our board work.

We had another board meeting in July as part of Mentorship/Leadership Weekend. We have had the opportunity to meet with the other boards, including the ONS Foundation and ONCC along with the Steering Council and Nominating Committee. We attended the Town Hall Meeting and responded to questions from chapter leaders. We also interviewed candidates for CEO. This has been the first and only ONS Board that has had to take on the enormous task of hiring a CEO to replace Pearl Moore, who is retiring at the end of the year.^a

I am new to the board but enjoy working with those who are as passionate as I am about ONS. On a final note, there will be four board positions that need to be filled this year: two director-at-large positions, the secretary position and the president-elect. Although the deadline for nominations for these positions this year has passed, it is never too soon to begin preparing for next year! And please remember to vote because this is your society.

^a Note. Since this article was written, Paula Trahan Rieger, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, FAAN, has been named the new CEO of ONS. She will start in November 2006 and will work with Pearl until Pearl retires in January 2007.

SIG Members Offer Practical Tips for Road Warriors

From Linda Caldwell, RN, MS: I always carry toothpaste, mouthwash, a folding toothbrush, ibuprofen, and knee-high stockings in a small zippered pouch in my briefcase. It came in handy one night when I was stranded overnight in Louisville, KY, without my suitcase! Another handy briefcase item: snack cereal bars, M&Ms, or other "emergency" food items. You never know when you'll need that extra glucose. One more: I carry an extra cell phone charger in my briefcase at all times, so I don't have to remember to take the one from my office or home. When renting a car, always check to make sure that the keys can be removed from the ignition so you won't have to return to the car rental facility to exchange cars.

From Lisa Quirk, RN, MBA, OCN^®: Did you know that use cruise control during a rainstorm, or afterward while the roads are still slick or puddles of water remain, is unsafe? The reasoning is that if the wheels hydroplane on the water they can unpredictably change speed and put the car's stability at risk. Being on the road for hours at a time, I became a frequent user of cruise control and actually thought it was safer to continue this in the rain. Since a colleague told me this information, I now no longer use this during wet weather. Hope this is helpful.

From Jennifer Matthews, RN, MS, APRN, BC, OCN^®: Keep a swimsuit in your carry on so you can always enjoy the whirlpool in your hotel. Hairspray (aerosol) will remove spots from most synthetic materials for a quick clean-up. Try it; it works! I saved my mother-in-law, at a relative's wedding, by "erasing" a spot on the front of her skirt.

The Pharmaceutical/Industry Nurses SIG Has an Active History

The PIN SIG originated from the efforts of a group of industry nurses who sought to bring awareness of alternative roles for oncology nurses to the ONS membership. Their session, "Nontraditional Roles for Advanced Practice Nurses," was presented at the 2001 ONS Congress. Presenters Linda Caldwell, RN, MS, Mary Callaghan, RN, MN, AOCN^®, Carol Sheridan, RN, MSN, and Laura Benson, RN, MSN, ANP, AOCN^®, spoke to a packed room. "This was in my opinion the beginnings of the SIG as we realized so many people were interested and quite a few already working in these roles," said Laura.

From this exciting Congress success, a focus group was formed and quickly evolved into the PIN SIG with Laura serving as the first coordinator. The first project developed by the SIG was to define the role of industry nursing. A benchmarking survey was developed and eventually mailed to 122 PIN SIG members. The initial survey had a 52% response rate that provided information on various member demographics. Years in nursing and oncology, years in a nontraditional role, credentials, professional memberships, and employment status were compiled.

Position demographics included type of company (e.g., pharmaceutical or biotech, medical education, medical devices), current position, job responsibilities, reporting to, focus of role (e.g., education, sales, management), time spent traveling, and weekend work.

Compensation data was gathered on base salary range, incentive pay, how incentives were awarded, benefits, and equipment provided. Finally, professional issues such as licensing requirements and reason(s) for leaving traditional role were included. The results were compiled and presented at the 2002 PIN SIG Planning/Networking meeting, which had 34 SIG members and 9 non-SIG members in attendance. The information provided by the survey was invaluable to members and was updated with a follow-up survey in 2004 (see the related survey results article.)

The PIN SIG newsletter logo was adopted in 2002, and the SIG put out a call for volunteers to become the first newsletter editor. Alice Reichenberger, RN, OCN^®, became editor and Liesel Wabnig, RN, MN, AOCN^®, served as coeditor. Membership was 107 at the end of that year.

By May 2003, when Cynthia Ciaschi, RN, MS, CS, OCN^®, began her term as coordinator, the membership had grown to 137 and Martine Avello, RN, BSN, OCN^®, and Sharon Summerfield, RN, BSN, OCN^®, took over the editor and coeditor positions, respectively. Susan Wozniak, RN, BS, OCN^® was serving as Web page administrator. Our SIG continued to grow that year and undertook several projects, including updating and administering the benchmarking survey, initiating a mentorship survey, and drafting a letter to the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation to address the PIN SIG's position on changes in certification eligibility requirements. The SIG also had a topic selected for the first time to be presented at the 2004 Congress.

By 2004, membership passed the 200 mark by 10 and Sharon Summerfield moved into the editor position. Cynthia Ciaschi and Marnie McHale, RN, MS, AOCN^®, presented "Ethical Issues for the Pharmaceutical Industry and Healthcare Industry in the Oncology Setting" at Congress to an enthusiastic, standing-room-only crowd.

In 2005, Jennifer Matthews, MS, APRN-BC, OCN^®, became coordinator at the SIG's Congress planning meeting. The meeting was attended by 32 enthusiasts, whose lively discussion about industry issues resulted in the formation of several work groups to develop topics for Congress presentations. Quickly, these groups collaborated to develop and submit three topics to the 2006 Congress topic selection committee; "Maximizing Funding Support in the New Healthcare Compliance Era" was selected. Another group began to develop a SIG poster, another updated the benchmarking and needs assessment surveys, and several members were recognized for outstanding accomplishments. Total PIN SIG membership grew to 337 by the end of 2005.

Most recently, our SIG has had a topic, "Changing Nursing Roles: Mentoring an Expert Nurse in a Novice Role," selected for presentation at the 2006 Institutes of Learning by PIN SIG Coordinator-Elect Debbie Mercier, RN, MSN, OCN^®. Also in 2006, the SIG membership responded to the annual needs assessment survey, which included 10 items from the original benchmarking survey.

2005 SIG Survey Results Are Released

In 2002, the Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing (PIN) SIG developed a benchmarking survey to define the SIG's role. Laura Benson, RN, MSN, ANP, AOCN^®, Beverly Casarico, RN, MS, AOCN^®, and Linda Caldwell, RN, MS, deserve our gratitude for their work. The following mission statement describes and defines the SIG's role: to enhance the image of professional oncology nurses functioning in industry and pharmaceutical (nontraditional) roles and to provide support and facilitate networking among members functioning in such roles.

The survey was administered to the membership again in 2004, and the results were presented at the 2004 Congress SIG meeting.

Some interesting contrasts existed between the two surveys. The number of people in sales representative roles doubled from 2002–2004. Consultant roles decreased by about a third, whereas educators increased by about a third. Those in management positions also doubled between the survey years.

The base salary ranges increased, with approximately half the responders in 2002 earning $71,000-$89,000 and 85% of responders earning $71,000-$100,000 or more in 2004.

In an effort to obtain updated information prior to the next administration of the 2006 complete benchmarking survey, information will be obtained from our recently completed PIN SIG Satisfaction Survey.

The results of the satisfaction survey will be available online in the near future.

Here are a few of the contrasts from 2002, 2004, and 2005.

When reviewing the data, keep in mind that the questions could be answered differently from survey to survey. Also, several more items were included in the benchmarking survey than the 2005 PIN SIG Satisfaction Survey.

Welcome, New Members

The PIN SIG extends a warm welcome to the following new members

Membership Information

• Network with colleagues in an identified subspecialty area around the country.
• Contribute articles for your SIG's newsletter.
• Participate in discussions with other SIG members.
• Contribute to the future path of the SIG.
• Share your expertise.
• Support and/or mentor a colleague.
• Receive information about the latest advancements in treatments, clinical trials, etc.
• Participate in ONS leadership by running for SIG coordinator-elect or join SIG work groups.
• Acquire information with a click of a mouse at http://sig.ons.wego.net, including
• Educational opportunities for your subspecialty
• Education material on practice
• Calls to action
• News impacting or affecting your specific SIG
• Newsletters
• Communiqués
• Meeting minutes.

Join a Virtual Community
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

• Log on to the ONS Web site (www.ons.org).
• Select "Membership" from the tabs above.
• Then, click on "Chapters, SIGs & Virtual Communities."
• Scroll down to "Special Interest Groups (SIG) Virtual Community" and click.
• Now, select "Find a SIG."
• Locate and click on the name of your SIG from the list of all ONS SIGs displayed.
• Once the front page of your SIG's Virtual Community appears on screen, select "New User" from the top left. (This allows you to create log-in credentials.)
• Type the required information into the text fields as prompted.
• Click "Join Group" (at the bottom right of the text fields) when done.

Note. To go directly to the SIG Virtual Community, visit http://sig.vc.ons.org.

Special Notices

• If you already have log-in credentials generated from the ONS Web site, use this information instead of attempting to generate new information.
• If you created log-in credentials for the ONS Web site and wish to have different log-in information, you will not be able to use the same e-mail address to generate your new credentials. Instead, use an alternate e-mail address.

Subscribe to Your SIG's Virtual Community Discussion Forum
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,

• Select "Log In," located next to "New User," and enter your information.
• Next, click on the "Discussion" tab on the top right of the title bar.
• Now, select "Featured Discussion" from the left drop-down menu.
• Locate and select "Subscribe to Discussion" inside the "Featured Discussion" section.
• Go to "Subscription Options" and select "Options."
• When you have selected and entered all required criteria, you will receive a confirmation message.
• Click "Finish."
• You are now ready to begin participating in your SIG's discussion forum.

• First, log in. (This allows others to identify you and enables you to receive notification [via e-mail] each time a response or new topic is posted.)
• Click on "Discussion" from the top title bar.
• Select "Featured Discussion" from the left drop-down menu.
• Click on any posted topic to view contents and post responses.

Sign Up to Receive Your SIG's Virtual Community Announcements
As an added feature, members also are able to register to receive their SIG's announcements by e-mail.

• From your SIG's Virtual Community page, locate the "Sign Up Here to Receive Your SIG's Announcements" section. This appears above the posted announcements section.
• Select the "Click Here" feature, which will take you to a link to subscribe.
• Once the "For Announcement Subscription Only" page appears on screen, select how you wish to receive your announcements.
• As individual e-mails each time a new announcement is posted
• One e-mail per day comprised of all new daily announcements posted
• Opt-out, indicating that you will frequently browse your SIG's Virtual Community page for new postings
• Enter your e-mail address.
• Click on "Next Page."
• Because you have already joined your SIG's Virtual Community, you will receive a security prompt with your registered user name already listed. Enter your password at this prompt and click "Finish."
• This will bring up a listing of your SIG's posted announcements. Click on "My SIG's Page" to view all postings in their entirety or to conclude the registration process and begin browsing.

Pharmaceutical/Industry Nursing SIG Officers

To view past newsletters, click here.

ONS Membership/Leadership Team Contact Information

Angie Stengel, MS, CAE, Director of Membership/Leadership
astengel@ons.org
412-859-6244

Diane Scheuring, MBA, Manager of Member Services
dscheuring@ons.org
412-859-6256

Carol DeMarco, Membership/Leadership Administrative Assistant
cdemarco@ons.org
412-859-6230

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
125 Enterprise Dr.
Pittsburgh, PA 15275-1214
866-257-4ONS
412-859-6100
www.ons.org