Trust Nurses to Innovate in a Time of Uncertainty

Oncology nurses know the uncertainties in the cancer care environment: determining a diagnosis, deciding on the treatment plan, managing expected and unexpected symptoms, and monitoring the long-term outcomes. Because of 2020’s pandemic, racial justice movements, and political unrest, those uncertainties intensified for healthcare providers, patients, families, communities, ourselves—and our Society. We have all pivoted our priorities.

As you will see in this annual report, ONS prioritized providing members and its extended community of nurses with guidelines and resources to navigate caring for people with cancer during a pandemic. Although the annual ONS Congress™ was canceled for the first time in our history, staff and members designed a virtual conference, ONS Bridge™, which was attended by more than 4,300 nurses. ONS continued to innovate and bring content virtually to chapters and nationally to policy makers, concluding the year with a virtual Capitol Hill meeting. The first ONS Hackathon™ unveiled innovative projects that can have real-world impacts.

2020 was the World Health Organization’s International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, which nurses celebrated by developing solutions to complicated scenarios to ensure that patients with or without COVID-19 continued to receive quality care. Our resilience was tested as individuals and as organizations.

Despite the challenges encountered in 2020, ONS adapted and innovated to achieve positive year-end outcomes, along with its affiliate organizations, the Oncology Nursing Foundation and the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation. We appreciate the commitment that our members, sponsors, and donors have made to ONS in 2020 and look forward to continuing our joint efforts to ensure excellence in the care of all people with cancer.

Nancy Houlihan, MA, RN, AOCN®
Nancy Houlihan, MA, RN, AOCN®,
ONS President, Board of Directors
Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN
Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN,
ONS Chief Executive Officer
“I am so proud to be a part of this workforce. We are resilient, rising above, and ready to help in any way. I love nurses’ passion and ability to find innovative ways to make things happen and support one another.”
– Kay Bloomquist, BSN, RN, ONN-CG, nurse navigator Kay Bloomquist
Download PDF version of report