The ONS Podcast

ONS member Deborah Christensen, MSN, APRN, AOCNS®, oncology nurse navigator at Southwest Cancer Clinic in St. George, UT, joins Erin Dickman, MS, RN, OCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, to discuss why we need self-care as nurses and as people, how self-care can benefit your practice, the best ways to implement self-care in your daily routine, and much more.

Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Episode Notes:

Check out these resources from today’s episode:

• The NCPD activity for this episode has expired, but you can still earn NCPD through many other Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes. Find a full list of opportunities.
• Deborah Christensen at ONS Voice
• Self-Care Topics at ONS Voice
• Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• Brené Brown

ONS members Janet Van Cleave, PhD, of New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing in New York City, and Micah Skeens, PhD, RN, CPNP, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH, the 2020 recipients of the Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Oncology, join Stephanie Jardine, BSN, RN, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, to discuss how they made their projects a reality using the grant funding and how any nurse can work to make their innovative ideas a reality. Additionally, Van Cleave discusses her Oncology Nursing Foundation-funded study to measure her project’s outcomes. The challenge supports the development of nurse-led innovative projects to improve oncology care, including prevention, early detection, treatment, and care for cancer survivors. For more information on the challenge, read the ONS Voice article linked in the episode notes.

Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by January 1, 2023. The planners have no conflicts to disclose and the episode has no commercial support. The faculty for this episode, Dr. Van Cleave and Dr. Skeens, disclosed grant funding from Johnson & Johnson Innovation. Dr. Van Cleave also disclosed grant funding from the Oncology Nursing Foundation and NYU Mega-Grants Initiative. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Episode Notes

Check out these resources from today’s episode:

• The NCPD activity for this episode has expired, but you can still earn NCPD through many other Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes. Find a full list of opportunities.
• ONS Voice article: Oncology Nursing Society Announces Awardees of Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Oncology
• ONS Voice article: To Drive Clinical Excellence and Resources, ONS Launches Center for Innovation
• Oncology Nursing Podcast Episode 134: Nurse Innovators Increase Access to Biomarker Testing During ONS Hackathon
• Oncology Nursing Foundation grant funding

“When I meet with patients, I try and remind them, ‘Yes, you do have these side effects that can happen’ and make sure that they’re informed, but also try and reassure them that not everyone gets it as severe as maybe the movies and TV shows portray,” Dane Fritzsche, PharmD, BCOP, informatics pharmacist from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center at the University of Washington Medicine in Seattle, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a discussion about what oncology nurses need to know about alkylating agents for patients with cancer. This episode is the first in a series about drug classes, which we’ll include a link to in the episode notes.

You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.75 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD), which may be applied to the oncology nursing practice and treatment ILNA categories, by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by November 17, 2025. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to alkylating agents.

Episode Notes

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.
• Oncology Nursing Podcast: Pharmacology 101 series
• ONS Voice oncology drug reference sheets
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article : Chemoprevention: An Overview of Pharmacologic Agents and Nursing Considerations
• ONS book: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (second edition)
• ONS Huddle Card: Alkylating Agents
• The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
• ChemoCare drug information
• Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA)
• National Cancer Institute’s A to Z List of Cancer Drugs
• Patient education guides created as a collaboration between ONS, HOPA, NCODA, and the Association of Community Cancer Centers:
• • Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets
• • IV Cancer Treatment Education Sheets

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library...

“Oftentimes, local policy changes are the ones that are going to influence your day-to-day practice most directly—and are the ones where your voice has the most power because you’re closer to the decision makers. There are so many ways for nurses to become involved in advocacy, and it can be simple things just like voting or being knowledgeable on the issues,” Erica Fischer-Cartlidge, DNP, RN, AOCNS®, EBP-C, chief clinical officer at ONS, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS. Fischer-Cartlidge explained how she discovered advocacy and encouraged oncology nurses to get involved at multiple levels and speak out for their colleagues and patients. You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode by completing the evaluation linked below.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Episode Notes

• The NCPD activity for this episode has expired, but you can still earn NCPD through many other Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes. Find a full list of opportunities.
• Get updates on the issues affecting oncology nurses.
• ONS Center for Advocacy and Health Policy
• Read more from Alec Stone, MA, MPA, ONS Government Affairs Director.
• ONS course: Advocacy 101: Making a Difference
• ONS Voice articles:
  • Nurses Are Pivotal to Advancing Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative
  • Legislation and Cancer Care: New Policies Improve Nursing Practice and Patient Outcomes
  • When Healthcare Professionals Join Organizations to Advocate, Patients’ Voices Are Heard
  • Climate Change Is Contributing to the Cancer Burden, and Nurses Must Take Action
  • All Politics Is Local, and That’s Why You Should Get Involved in ONS Advocacy
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
  • Amplifying the Global Impact of Oncology Nursing
  • Advocacy: The Pivotal Role of Oncology Nurses
  • Advocacy and Collaboration: Advancing Cancer Prevention and Screening
  • Voices of Oncology Nursing Society Members Matter in Advocacy and Decisions Related to U.S. Health Policy
• Resources from the American Nurses Association:
  • Latest Advocacy News
  • Advocacy Toolkit

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [email protected].

Highlights From Today’s Episode

“We think of advocacy and policy, and our minds automatically go to the national level in Washington, DC. But advocacy at the local level, even within a local organization or regionally at the state level, are just as important, if not more sometimes. There are so many ways for nurses to become involved, and it can be simple things just like voting or being knowledgeable on the issues. And then even bigger like supp...

“I think oftentimes people think this is just a radiology procedure that is rather benign. That’s really the role of the oncology nurse, just to be [an educator], support, emotional support, and a coach,” Lisa Parks, MS, APRN-CNP, ANP-BC, nurse practitioner in hepatobiliary surgery at The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a discussion about what oncology nurses should know about transarterial chemoembolization administration and their role surrounding that procedure. This episode is part of a series about non-IV chemotherapy administration; the others are linked below.

You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.75 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD), which may be applied to the oncology nursing practice or treatment ILNA categories, by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by November 10, 2025. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to transarterial chemoembolization.

Episode Notes

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPDComplete this evaluation for free NCPD.
• Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes about non-IV chemotherapy administration:
• • Episode 271: Intraventricular and Intrathecal Administration: The Oncology Nurse’s Role
  • Episode 265: Intravesical Administration: The Oncology Nurse’s Role
  • Episode 252: Intraperitoneal Administration: The Oncology Nurse’s Role
• Oncology Nursing Forum articles:
• • Symptom Distress in Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Toward the End of Life
  • Living With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Near the End of Life: Family Caregivers’ Perspectives
• ONS Chapters

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast Club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library.

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email [email protected].

Highlights From Today’s Episode

“So, TACE was commonly used to treat liver metastatic cancers, primarily metastatic colon cancer, until research showed that some of these cancers were not responding to TACE. Therefore, it is no longer really used in metastatic colon cancer. TACE is used in hepatocellular cancer. It also was used more than 10 years ago to treat metastatic neuroendocrine cancers. But recent research has showed that neuroendocrine cancers respond to this embolization without the use of chemotherapy. By eliminating chemotherapy, we also eliminate the potential for side effects.” TS 3:29

“TACE, o...