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CANO Chapters corner
ONIGA NORTH — SERVING
NORTHERN ALBERTA
President: Susan Horsman
Past President: Carole Szwajkowski
Secretary: currently vacant
Treasurer: Romeo Felix
Education subcommittee: Nan CoxKennett, Sarah Champ, Marilyn
Goodman
Retention and Recruitment subcommittee: Janet Samson, Carole Gallagher,
Amanda Banks
ONIGA North continues to focus
on the educational needs of oncology
nurses in Alberta. This year we have
tried a few new initiatives to increase
engagement with our members. We
have held several special educational
events over the last year. We hosted several evening educational sessions after
work, with good attendance. We featured
a glow-in-the-dark night at Halloween,
with lots of Halloween goodies and presentations on radiation oncology. The
CANO Webinars on cardio-oncology and
breast cancer 101 were also well attended
evenings, as well as an Oncologic
Emergency
presentation
featuring
Barb Bancroft. We have started using
Telehealth to broadcast our sessions to
outlying cancer centres, to help ensure
that we reach as wide an audience as
possible. We established a Facebook
page, which created some positive feedback and engagement, and are working
hard to try to increase our social media
presence. We have also held an ongoing
trivia contest on oncology, with our lucky
winners receiving Tim Horton’s gift
cards, a treat any nurse is glad to receive!
Our team is gearing up for our OND celebration, which will soon be upon us.
Our group has also been asked to participate in Oncology Annual Spring Update
for Edmonton, which should enable
ongoing exposure and networking with
nurses from our own and other facilities
in Northern Alberta.
Ongoing challenges for our group
are finding the best time for meetings
and presentations to enable attendance
of shift workers and outside RNs,
encouraging and communicating the
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value of belonging to CANO to all nurses
in oncology, and trying to find a balance
of presenting specialized information
that will help to encourage all levels of
nursing practice, for novice, mid-level
and experienced oncology nurses alike.
Our meetings now include a roundtable session for brainstorming ideas
for future events and mutual support.
Like many chapters, we have a small
core of volunteers, whose contributions
have been and continue to be invaluable.
Looking to the future, we hope to continue
to support our oncology colleagues in
Northern Alberta, and to participate in
national events to share the excellent
nursing knowledge and research that
continues to be generated in our region.
LONDON ONCOLOGY
NURSES INTEREST GROUP
(LONIG)
LONIG is a small group of only
18 members. We come from a wide
geographic area in Southwestern
Ontario including regional cancer
programs in Windsor, Sarnia, London
and our surrounding satellite oncology
sites within Local Health Integrated
Networks 1 and 2. Our mandate, similar
to other CANO chapters, is to promote
oncology nursing by facilitating
education for our members and
regional oncology nurses.
In the fall we conducted an online
survey to better understand our
members and local oncology nurses’
needs. Twenty-four people responded.
The results indicated there was ongoing
interest in having a local chapter of
CANO and suggestions for some
educational sessions were garnered.
We were able to facilitate several
evening educational sessions including:
• October 8 & 30: Two presentation
dates were offered for a combined session on Febrile Neutropenia and the
Role of EGFR Inhibitors in Colorectal
Cancer. Pharmacists Ally Dhalla and
Sonia Dhaliwal from the London
Regional Cancer Program each presented one of the topics. The febrile
neutropenia presentation reviewed
risks of febrile neutropenia with different chemotherapy regimens and
strategies for reducing risk. The EGFR
session reviewed common side effects
and management of symptoms.
• October 9: The topic, Acute
Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) and
Effective Management Strategies to
Improve Outcomes, was presented by
Dr. Xenocostas, Hematologist, Krista
Biederman,
Hematology
pharmacist and myself, Adrienne Fulford,
Hematology Nurse Practitioner. Newer
treatment options for the rare condition of APL are now available including
therapy with Arsenic Trioxide. This joint
presentation focused on the disease
spectrum of APL and potential patient
challenges, recent research related to
APL treatment including arsenic therapy,
and nursing care for patients with APL.
• November 20: The topic presented was entitled Myelodysplatic
Syndrome (MDS) and Iron Overload
101. LONIG was pleased to host
Nancy-Ann Pringle, RN, from
Princess Margaret Hospital to share
her expertise on iron overload related
to transfusion support for those persons living with MDS.
LONIG is always pleased to
recognize Oncology Nursing Day
(OND) with festivities. This year will be
no exception. We are in the process of
planning an OND evening to celebrate
and recognize our local oncology nurses.
We expect to have time for networking,
brief presentations from those who
attended the CANO 2014 Conference
to share their pearls of wisdom, as well
as recognition of our LONIG members’
accomplishments. Each year we offer
prizes at one of our events, one of which
is the Wendy Gillis Memorial Award of
a CANO membership.
Future planning is underway for
spring educational sessions and we are
looking toward our biennial regional
one-day oncology nursing conference.
Respectfully submitted,
Adrienne Fulford, RN(EC), MScN,
CON(C)
Volume 25, Issue 2, spring 2015 • Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal
Revue canadienne de soins infirmiers en oncologie
Greater Toronto Chapter of Oncology
Nurses (GTCON) represents Local
Health Integrated Networks of Central
West, Halton, Toronto Central, Central,
and Central East.
GTCON strives to provide various
venues for registered nurses involved in
cancer care to network and collaborate
with other colleagues across the Greater
Toronto Area. We continue to facilitate
educational opportunities for nurses
working with cancer patients and their
families. Through sponsorship with our
industry partners, GTCON has offered
a number of these educational events.
Since our last CONJ report submitted in
June 2014, topics have included:
• GU Cancer Update — Karen Hersey,
RN, Laura Legere, RN, Nesan Bandali,
RN, & Joan Basiuk, RN
• Optimizing
Care
for
Oral
Chemotherapy
Patients — Rick
Abbott, BScPharm & Scott Edwards,
PharmD
• Adapting to a New Standard of
Care for Chronic Lymphocytic
Leukemia (CLL) and indolent NonHodgkins Lymphoma (iNHL) in
Daily Practice—Practical Tips and
Recommendations — Tina Crosbie,
BScPharm & Judith Koolwine, RN
• Advances
in
the
Treatment
of Melanoma and Basal Cell
Carcinoma — Dr. Sudha Rajagopal,
MD & Nancy Gregorio, RN
• Blood
Cancers
Education
Session — Laura Mitchell, CNS &
Vida Ghodraty Jabloo, RN
We are in the midst of our 2015
membership drive that started in
January. Our goal is to reach 250 members by Oncology Nursing Day 2015!
During each of our educational events,
our executive team helps new members sign up using a laptop onsite and
is able to provide further information
about the benefits of joining CANO.
This year’s prize is the biggest we have
had—a new CANO member will have
a chance to win their registration fee
for the 2015 Annual CANO Conference
being held in Toronto (worth over
$550)! Anyone who referred the new
member will also have a chance to win
their next year’s CANO membership
paid for by GTCON.
We held our second annual GTCON
social gathering during the CANO
Conference in Quebec City and our
second annual winter social event in
December 2014. We had a great turnout in Quebec City—more than 20
GTCON members gathered and socialized. We had a great turn-out as well for
our winter event held at the Esplanade
Bier Market.
As of December 2014, we have
approximately 212 members. On average, we have between 40 and 50 members attend each of our educational
dinner events. We will be hosting three
more educational events during our fiscal year—one on Oncology Nursing Day,
one during nursing week, and one for
our Annual General Meeting in June
2015. We continue to update our members about upcoming activities through
our newsletters and make efforts to
highlight the accomplishments of our
GTCON members.
Thank you to Diana Incekol (former
Editor-in-Chief of GTCON Newsletter)
for her dedicated service in the advancement of the Toronto chapter and her
very creative abilities to produce our
newsletters. Thank you, as well, to Mary
Michalski for her enthusiasm as our
undergraduate student representative.
I would like to extend a great big
THANK YOU to our current GTCON
executive members for all of their hard
work and contributions over the past
year. We meet monthly, excluding summer months, to plan our educational
and social events.
GTCON executive team:
Philiz Goh, President
Christine Piescic, Director of Finances
Shawne
Gray,
Director
of
Communications
Rosemarie Riveria, MAL — Editor of
Newsletter
Sabrina Bennett, MAL
Vacant Position, MAL
Marisa Moore, MAL — Undergraduate
Student
Our GTCON executives are also
part of the Local Planning Committee
(LPC) for the 2015 CANO Conference
Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal • Volume 25, Issue 2, spring 2015
Revue canadienne de soins infirmiers en oncologie
coming to Toronto October 4–7! We are
working like busy bees to put together
a great educational and fun conference.
Christine is leading the financial fundraising component, Shawne is leading
the social media portion, and Sabrina
and myself are co-leading the social
committee. We very much look forward
to seeing you at this year’s conference!
GTCON can be contacted via our new
email address: GTCONinformation@
gmail.com.
Members can register for events,
ask questions, and submit nomination
applications or newsletter materials to
the new email address. Additionally,
members can follow us on Facebook
to see pictures from various events,
learn about upcoming events, and
follow us on our LPC planning committee journey. Just search “Greater
Toronto Chapter of Oncology Nurses”
in Facebook and LIKE us!
Report Respectfully Submitted,
Philiz Goh, RN, BScN, CON(C),
MN-HSLA(c)
President
ONTARIO—SIMCOEMUSKOKA
Simcoe-Muskoka Chapter covers
Barrie, Orillia, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge,
Huntsville, Collingwood, and outlying areas. Our goal remains to increase
membership and group involvement.
Although we had one of the greatest turnouts last year at our annual Oncology
Nursing Day dinner, I am sorry to say
that more than half of the members have
not renewed their memberships.
We felt that our main goal was providing affiliation to our professional
association for nurses. We wanted
them to feel a sense of belonging and
have access to education, events, conferences and camaraderie. We still
believe these aspects are important for
nurses. Somehow we have a difficult
time having nurses commit to joining
the membership. When asked, many
respond the reason they are not joining
is financial and having so many other
responsibilities.
This year, we plan on once again providing a wonderful dinner at Liberty
North and are hoping for another
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Communiqué
GREATER TORONTO
CHAPTER OF ONCOLOGY
NURSES
Communiqué
great turnout. Last year we saw the
greatest number of attendees, approximately 60 people. We had two wonderful speakers. Anne Green, from Bliss
gave an inspirational speech on her
personal journey and the importance
of self-care. Catherine Wallis-Smith,
Education Coordinator, North SimcoeMuskoka Palliative Care Network, provided a great motivational presentation
on patient engagement and self-care.
We honoured Mary-Ellen Love as our
Simcoe-Muskoka Chapter Champion.
Mary-Ellen is an oncology nurse of 40
years who singlehandedly started the
cancer program alongside Dr. Bryn
Pressnail many years ago. This program
is now the Simcoe-Muskoka Regional
Cancer Centre. It was a beautiful, heartfelt presentation that featured a video
including many staff stories and well
wishes for Mary-Ellen. Additionally, we
had many prizes at the dinner and no
one who attended left empty handed!
This year we plan on having a walk
in mid-August with a dual purpose:
fund raising for our local chapter and
for Gilda’s Club—a local organization
offering support services to members
of the cancer community and their families. We also would like to arrange a
bake sale in the fall, as a fund raising
event.
Submitted by
Sandy Calvano, RN
Le coin des sections de l’ACIO
L’ONIGA-NORTH — AU
SERVICE DU NORD DE
L’ALBERTA
Présidente : Susan Horsman
Ancienne présidente : Carole
Szwajkowski
Secrétaire : poste vacant
Trésorier : Romeo Felix
Sous-comité de l’éducation : Nan
Cox-Kennett, Sarah Champ, Marilyn
Goodman
Sous-comité de la rétention et du
recrutement : Janet Samson, Carole
Gallagher, Amanda Banks
Telehealth pour retransmettre nos
sessions à des centres plus éloignés,
et ce, afin d’assurer la couverture d’un
auditoire aussi large que possible.
• Nous avons établi une page Facebook
qui a généré une participation et des
rétroactions positives et nous nous
efforçons d’accroître notre présence
dans les médias sociaux.
• Nous avons organisé un jeu-questionnaire sur l’oncologie qui récompensait les gagnants par une carte-cadeau
Tim Horton’s, un présent que n’importe quel infirmier ou infirmière
rêve de recevoir!
L’ONIGA-North continue de se
concentrer sur les besoins en éducation des infirmières en oncologie de
l’Alberta. Cette année, nous avons
introduit quelques nouvelles initiatives
pour accroître la participation de nos
membres et avons organisé plusieurs
activités éducatives spéciales.
• Nous avons coordonné plusieurs soirées éducatives après le travail, auxquelles ont pu assister bon nombre
de nos membres.
• Nous avons proposé « une nuit
luminescente » pour Halloween, un
divertissement nocturne qui a inclus
de nombreuses gâteries ainsi que des
présentations en radio-oncologie.
• Les webinaires de l’ACIO portant sur
la cardio-oncologie et Cancers du sein
101 ont également remporté un franc
succès, sans oublier la présentation
sur les urgences oncologiques avec la
participation de Barb Bancroft.
• Nous avons commencé à utiliser
Notre équipe se prépare pour la
Journée des soins infirmiers en oncologie, qui approche à grands pas. Notre
groupe a également été sollicité pour
participer à la Mise à jour de printemps
sur les soins infirmiers en oncologie
qui se tient à Edmonton. Cet événement devrait multiplier les occasions de
contacts et de réseautage entre nos infirmières et infirmiers et ceux des autres
centres du Nord de l’Alberta.
Les défis qui continuent de se poser
à notre groupe sont les suivants : trouver les meilleurs créneaux horaires pour
organiser réunions et présentations
avec l’objectif d’inclure les travailleurs
de quarts et les infirmiers et infirmières
ne travaillant pas sur place; communiquer à tous les infirmiers et infirmières
en oncologie qu’il est important d’appartenir à l’ACIO et les encourager à
rejoindre nos rangs; enfin, arriver à présenter l’information spécialisée de sorte
qu’elle puisse profiter à tous les niveaux
240
de pratique des soins infirmiers, tant
pour les infirmières et infirmiers débutants que ceux possédant un peu plus
d’expérience, ou encore les plus expérimentés d’entre nous. Nos réunions
comportent maintenant un tour de
table pour engager les participants à
trouver de nouvelles idées concernant
des événements futurs ou l’entraide.
Comme de nombreuses sections régionales, nous avons un petit groupe central de bénévoles dont la contribution
est précieuse.
En ce qui concerne l’avenir, nous
espérons continuer d’apporter notre
soutien à nos collègues en oncologie
dans le Nord de l’Alberta et à participer à des événements nationaux qui
vont nous permettre de partager nos
connaissances en oncologie, d’une part,
et la recherche menée, d’autre part, deux
domaines qui puisent leur richesse icimême, dans notre région.
GROUPE D’INTÉRÊTS
DES INFIRMIÈRES EN
ONCOLOGIE DE LONDON
(LONIG)
Le LONIG est un petit groupe de 18
membres. La section couvre une grande
région géographique dans le sud-ouest
de l’Ontario qui comprend des programmes régionaux de cancérologie à
Windsor, Sarnia et London, ainsi que
des sites satellites avoisinants en soins
oncologiques qui font partie des réseaux
locaux d’intégration des services de
santé 1 et 2. Notre mandat, semblable
Volume 25, Issue 2, spring 2015 • Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal
Revue canadienne de soins infirmiers en oncologie