Get involved with your local San Diego Oncology Nursing Society! This newsletter contains lots of information to keep you "in the know!"

Summertime is in full swing, and we hope you are gearing up for jumping back into getting

involved with your local ONS chapter for autumn!

We have so many great things planned, and this e-newsletter will get you ready! 

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Your 2016 Leadership Team!

Above: Left to right: Meloddie Brooks, Laura Sauer, Leah Marquardt, Gabriela Lacatus, Sandi Weyerhaeuser, and Dawn Huckabone; some of your leadership team having a blast at the May 11th, 2016 Leadership Team Meeting.Anyone is welcome to attend the meetings, which are held 6 times per year, in addition to the monthly dinner meetings. We would love to see you at our meetings and hear what you have to say. The next Leadership Team Meeting will be on Wednesday, October 12th. 

If you are receiving this E-newsletter, you are either a member of ONS or have been, or have indicated that you would like to receive the E-newsletter at one of our meetings.

ONS has changed their membership model so that once a member's membership has expired, it is immediately removed from the ONS roster.

In the past, it has taken weeks to months to drop off, and reminders were sent out to renew. ONS will still be sending out a reminder to renew, but it is up to the individual member to renew thereafter, and no further notifications will come from ONS. This includes and news, information, e-mails, or anything else! We strongly encourage you to take this time to look at your own membership and take note of when it will expire to make sure you don't miss out on any of the action!If you haven't already done so, please go to https://www.ons.org/ to join now.Our meetings are always on the 3rd Thursday of the month, and locations and topics change monthly.

2016 Leadership Team

President: Leah MarquardtPresident Elect: Gabriela LacatusTreasurer: Emily PurdySecretary: Margo JaureguiProgram Chair: Susie Bailey Membership Chair: Sandi WeyerhaeuserCommunity Outreach and Student Development Chairs: Kim Rappolt Nominating Chair: Francie MercadoFundraising Chair: Dawn HuckaboneE-Newsletter: Laura Sauer

Technology Communications Chair: Laura SauerPast President: Meloddie Brooks

Election time is just around the corner, and if you would like something impressive to add to your resume, or have a desire to make an impact on the world of oncology, we would love to have you run for an office! We are very supportive, and promise you will be glad joined in! 

Letter from our past-President, Meloddie Brooks:Thank you SD Chapter nurses for making a BIG impression at our 41st ONS Congress.

This year, Leah Marquardt (left) attended the ONS Leadership Weekend Conference held in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Close to 400 chapter leaders in one

room. Wow! Just an idea how large of an organization ONS National is!"

Leah says, "I was inspired and learned a lot at the Chapter Leadership

workshop in Pittsburgh! There are plenty of topics to be discussed!"

We made SD famous with our BIG group photo that was shown at the FINAL closing remark session. (See photo on SD Facebook). I especially liked the speakers this year. Two of our own SDONS members were podium presenters: Marlon Saria and Monette Santos-Moss.  Also, we had 2 poster presenters: Geline Tamayo and Aileen Erwin. I really enjoyed congress this year, it was a lot fun Learning with friends and nurses who were committed to improving cancer care. We even had time to enjoy the night life of San Antonio Riverwalk. Look out Denver Colorado, cuz SD Chapter is coming! (pictured below, Meloddie Brooks at 2016 Congress)

Here's some details on updates to the Virtual Community.If you haven't checked it out lately, go to our site at http://sandiego.vc.ons.org/1877973. You must be a member to access the details, so re-join if you need to!

We are pleased to report that several important upgrades were made to your chapter virtual community sites during this past weekend. The VC platform vendor initiated a total data refresh on all chapter sites. Essentially, the impact of this is that all old membership information has been deleted from your directories, and

current information was uploaded in its place. In particular, this data refresh has had the following effects:

1.       Updated “Single Sign On” functionality. All members should now use the same log-in credentials as they do for the main ONS website (email address and password).  In the past, some members used legacy usernames, which may have differed from their main ONS login.  This is no longer the case, and you and your members should use the same login information (your email address in all lowercase letters) across all ONS sites.

2.       All members have been re-subscribed to your chapter emails.  To address previous data lags and confusion about opting-in or opting-out of receiving your messages, we have opted everyone back in to chapter e-mails.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to your members. If any of your members would like to opt out of chapter emails, please direct them to login and visit this page: https://www.ons.org/manage-your-email-subscriptions.  Members also have the option to opt out of e-mails from chapters by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any chapter email.

3.       Chapter rosters will now be updated daily, as opposed to monthly.  Chapter directories will now be updated on a 24-hour cycle – so new chapter members will be added each day, and expired members will be removed each day.  Members will need to have active memberships to access the chapter sites.

The time has come to get your OCN!From our Facebook feed: @OCN recognition award breakfast. 30 years of certified Nurses. This could be your year to start or renew your OCN. NO more excuses, get your OCN at this discounted price! 30% off this

year.

In addition to this, the Free Mason's of California continue to offer reimbursement of either $1,100 or $500 depending on if your company

reimburses you or not. Free Money!!! The program is called "By Your Side"

Here's the link to cash in on this very generous donation, and further the Oncology profession: 

https://www.freemason.org/doc/By%20Your%20Side%20Program%20Application.pdf?id=20139

 

From Dawn Huckabone:I've been an Oncology RN for 25 years now, working in both outpatient and inpatient

roles. I've had my OCN for the last 14 years. It seems natural to gather my knowledge base and prove it with obtaining my BMTCN (Blood and Marrow Transplant Certified Nurse). I've had the pleasure of working in this arena for the last six and a half years.

"You learn something new every day." That holds true for me-I'm always seeking knowledge to make life easier for my patients. Thank you for the consideration each of

you gives!

Top: Left to Right: Meloddie Brooks, an ONS member, Ellen Carr and Sandi Weyerhaeuser at Congress in San Antonio.

Below: Left to Right: Joan Kitson-Hart, Linda Clements and Christine Izzo having a blast at Congress!

From Tracy Bensley, winner of one of our $400 scholarships:In working toward my BSN, I completed a course entitled Leadership and Management in Nursing. Throughout this course, I learned about the intricacies of transformational leadership and the many functions of an effective nurse manager. Although not providing direct patient care, nurse managers have a great deal of responsibility for the quality of the care provided. Nurse managers are charged with educating and empowering their staff; ensuring care is within the scope of nursing practice; ensuring care is in line with ANA standards; and ensuring that the National Patient Safety Goals are met. Managers need to promote and implement evidence based practice, manage the budget, and foster a safe and challenging workplace environment.

As a result of this course, I have a better appreciation for how my manager and in turn my colleagues provide individualized care to both the patients and staff in a culturally sensitive and safe environment. This course broadened my knowledge of human diversity, ethics and safety, and client-focused care in the design, implementation, evaluation, and quality management of healthcare across the lifespan. We also discussed the fact that that the public in general is not aware of the educational levels required in nursing, the certifications earned, and the potential career ladder available within the field. This brought to light the many roles of the professional nurse and the need for a stronger public voice.

Geline Tamayo (left) and Monette Santos-MossSpotlight on Geline

Each meeting you may be invited to be part of our Member Spotlight.Geline: I currently work at UCSD Moores Cancer center as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), which I have been doing for the past 3 and a half years. My favorite thing about being an oncology nurse is taking

care of the patients and being a strong advocate. The best thing about the SDONS chapter is getting to network with other oncology nurses in San Diego. When I am not at work, I enjoy staying home with my dogs, or taking spinning classes or just biking. Something surprising about me is that I like to take afternoon naps. Can you

relate?

Some of the Men of ONS: Matthew Brooks (husband of Meloddie), Josh Cosby from North Carolina, and Josh Carter getting to attend a Spurs

game while attending Congress in San Antonio this year.

Member Spotlight:Francie Mercado (right) being interviewed by Kathleen Lisson (left)

Francie works at UCSD in BMT Oncology, which she got into by chance! The thing she enjoys about being an oncology nurse is the challenge, and

that it is a fun experience. Francie has met many friends in the SDONS chapter, and keeps her membership to ensure that nurses now and in the future have the best training for caring for their patients, which she thinks

is the best thing about being and SDONS member. When not doing oncology related stuff, Francie enjoys spending time with her 5 children. She says, "They are at the center of my life." Something surprising about

Francie is that her favorite ride at Disneyland is Space Mountain!

Above: Left to right: Meloddie Brooks, Linda Clements, Riitta Sturgilland Sheila Bedard representing SDONS during Nurses Week

at the Padres Game on May 6th. Above left: Susie Bailey (right) with her

husband, Mike. Above right: Leah Marquardt,and Jeanine Butler (Kaiser).

Upcoming Community Events

August 20th, 2016 (Saturday): Relay for Life: American Cancer Societyhttp://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY16CA?

pg=entry&fr_id=74279

October 2nd, 2016 (Sunday): 5 K Purple Stride sponsored by Pancreatic Cancer Action Network starting in De Anza Cove at Mission Bay Park

https://www.pancan.org/ 

October 16th, 2016 (Sunday): Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 

sponsored by American Cancer Society in Balboa Park, Corner of 6th Ave and Laurel St, San Diego, CA, 92101

http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageNavigator/MSABC_FY13_San_Diego_Strides_Walks.html

November 5th, 2016 (Saturday): Light the Night Walk sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

http://www.lightthenight.org/sd/ 

Coming in 2017: 

March 2017: San Diego Undy Run: Colon Cancer Alliancehttp://support.ccalliance.org/site/TR?fr_id=2321&pg=entry

April 2017: 12th Annual Free Clinic Phun Run 5K at the UCSD Biomedical Library Lawn

http://phunrun.wix.com/phunrun

August 2017: San Diego Free To Breathe in partnership for Lung Cancer Survival

If you know of any events, runs, or walks, please let us know! sd_ons@yahoo.com

May SDONS sponsors: (left to right): Rick Serlin, Sheryl Lippri LVN, Moges Taddese and Kathy Bowes.

A point made that struck home was when the speaker said, "The doctor offering me fertility preservation was a message of hope. He though I would survive this

and go on to have a family."

Reminders:2016 Monthly Dinner Programs and Meetings:

SDONS meetings are always held on the 3rd Thursday of each month in varying locations. You can find the calendar

at http://sandiego.vc.ons.org/ and below. Location will be announced usually the first week of the month, if not before, and RSVP’s are required by the Tuesday before the meeting. We understand things can happen,

so if you ever need to cancel, please be sure to send an email to sd_ons@yahoo.com to cancel so you are not added to the “No Show” list. The first “No Show” we will contact you to remind you of our policy.

The 2nd “No Show” will result in a reminder, and you will be placed on the wait list for the following dinner. We want to be sure our seats are filled,

and hope to never have a wait list. As it is, we have not had to put anyone on the wait list since October of 2014! Woo hoo! So, now is the time to

start coming again.

Left to Right: Meloddie Brooks, Joan Kitson-Hart, Riitta Sturgill and Linda

ClementsFrom the Heart topic for May's Monthly dinner is "Ethics: I feel like

I'm right (and your wrong)"

We discussed moments (personal and professional) when we were challenged or questioned and shared it at the dinner meeting.

"Once I had a family that wanted me to lie and say I was giving her vitamins. Not chemo, which it actually was. They said, 'Don't tell her. The family keeps her safe. That's our tradition." and I said, 'It's not mine. I won't tell her this is just vitamins.' I like what I do, and I love

my job, but I'm not going to give a chemo treatment to someone who does not know she has cancer, or that thinks it's just vitamins.

When I talked to the patient, she told me, 'I know I have cancer. But they are keeping it a secret, and it's ok.' The patients know. We have

to keep the patient at the focus of what we do." Paraphrased from touching story by Joan Kitson-Hart

Above: Sandi Weyerhaeuser and Josh CarterJune's talk from the heart topic was "Making time for me: how do you

make time for yourself to unwind and decompress?"We could all use some pointers on this subject, and many tips were

shared, ranging from yoga to going for walks to laughing!

From Susie Bailey: "I love these talks that we've been having before the meetings. It's so inspiring and up lifting to hear from all of you, please

keep sharing from the heart!"

 

Left to Right: Tasha Cook, Soon Dalton, and Kim Rappolt enjoying the July SDONS Dinner meeting. 

Save the Date!December 1st, 2016

SDONS Annual December Vendor Fair!Details coming soon!

Suzi Rundell and Donna Englebert at the July Dinner meeting.

Reminder, if you have signed up to post the E-Newsletter on your unit, please remember to do so shortly. We still need volunteers to post on the following units:

Alvarado, Scripps Chula Vista, Scripps Encinitas, Scripps Memorial Hillcrest, Scripps Memorial La Jolla, Scripps Rancho Bernardo, UCSD Hillcrest, and the VA. 

If you can help us out, please send us an email at sd_ons@yahoo.com!

Cindy Jones, one our founding SDONS members, on the left, with Kim Rappolt.

 It's so great to see younger nurses getting involved! 

Krista Rask, left, has just started nursing school and "I have no idea what kind of nurse I want to be yet. This was such a neat experience

coming to your meeting. I learned so much!" Riitta Sturgill, right, agrees!

Would you like to win a scholarship too? It’s so easy! Just send a sentence or 2 to sd_ons@yahoo.com about what you would like to

use your winnings toward, such as a CEU course, Congress, or other oncology related event/topic. Winners are chosen during the months of February, April, September and November. You must be present

to win, and the winners will be announced at the dinner for that

month. If you win, we just need a short article telling us what you learned or gained from this scholarship, along with your receipt.

Good luck!

Linda Clements and Mary Steinhoff at the July meeting looking great!

Calendar of EventsThey year is half over, and there are still chances to get involved! Dinner meetings and leadership meetings are listed on the following dates, as

well as on the Virtual Community at http://sandiego.vc.ons.org/. 

August 10th: Leadership Team Meeting at 6 pm at Laura's house

August 18th: Hosted by Cathey Bridgeman with Genetech BioOncology. Topic and Location to be determined.

 

September 15th: Scholarship Drawing! We are working on a CEU dinner, so date, location and topic to come. 

October 12th: Leadership Team Meeting at 6 pm at Dawn's house. Guten Tag!

October 20th: Topic: Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting. Hosted by Leslie Laudeman with Tesaro Bio-Oncology

 

November 9th: Leadership Team Meeting at 6 pm at Dawn's house

November 24th: Scholarship Drawing! Get ready to Vote

December 1st: VENDOR FAIR!!!!! Location and theme to be determined. If you have a place in mind, please share it with us at sd_ons@yahoo.com

All smiles at the July Dinner meeting!Left to right: Riitta Sturgill, Jane Underwood and Linda Clements

We need volunteers from each hospital to help us with a very easy project. Each hospital and clinic needs to have 1 volunteer to post the

information for each of the monthly dinner meetings in their break room to help us get the word out. This person will also help by posting the dinner

meeting flyer at their unit, or printing and posting the newsletter as it comes out. If you are able to help us out in this small, but vital role, please sign up at the next dinner meeting, or send us an email at

sd_ons@yahoo.com 

Denise Wernick, Vanessa Borough and Julie Burrisenjoying quality time at the July SDONS dinner meeting.

 

More Selfie

s from May 2016 ONS Congress

in San

Antonio: Meloddie

Brooks,

Felirose

Dolor,

Francie

Mercado, Lind

a Clements,

Christine Izzo, Marlon Saria, Matthew Brooks, Aileen Ewin, and Miyuki Nimmo. 

Nominations are being accepted for the 2016 Gracia Award, and the winner will be announced and the December Vendor Fair on Thursday, December 1st. 

If you know of someone in SDONS who has demonstrated excellent leadership skills, and would like to nominate them for this award, please submit your nomination to

sd_ons@yahoo.comWe are also accepting nominations for OCN, AOCNS, and other certification driven

awards.

Besides work, what else has this summer had in store for you?

From Secretary Margo Jauregui: "Well, I could send you a picture of a pile of papers or my computer screen. I'm in school, so I did a

lot of homework and studying! At least I'm lowering my risk of getting skin cancer by not being out in the sun!"

From Program Chair Susie Bailey: "18 people from my family (including my 82 year old grandma) went camping in mammoth, it

was a great time:) " (photo above)

From UCSD: 3 west - soon to be 6FGH Jacobs's Annual BBQ. Amazingly the weather cooperated and it wasn't in the 100s.  

From Newsletter Chair Laura Sauer: "My husband and I went up to Idaho, rented a car, and got to see 4 new states! Idaho, Oregon,

Montana and Wyoming! Beautiful country!" (photo below)

We would love to hear from you about your summer time adventures and any updates or exciting news from your units!

Update on Membership from Sandi Weyerhaeuser:

Current membership: 375   ONS roster (new members and expired members) now updates on

a daily basis, as opposed to monthly in the past.  On my internal roster, I keep expiration dates and am sending

notices to renew when applicable, but this will only apply to those members who have attended an SDONS meeting within the last

year. Therefore I know of no way to reach out to previous members to renew -- any suggestions?

I continue to send emails to new Guests who have attended a program, encouraging them to join. This has resulted in some (not

all) joining our chapter (yay!) I notify Margo, when she receives an RSVP from anyone who has

been a previous Guest within the calendar year, that they must either join or pay $20 to attend an another program.

If anyone knows of colleagues who are not already members, please help them get involved again.

Thank you for joining us in 2016! We are looking forward to seeing you in the second half of the year, and getting ready for We welcome your input, and would love to hear from

you! 

SDONS is the local chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society. It is committed to promoting quality

cancer care through nursing research and education and community service. The SDONS meetings, in

general, are scheduled every 3rd Thursday of the month. Annually, SDONS provides approximately

$5,000 in educational scholarships and awards to local oncology nurses.

For more information about SDONS, please contact sd_ons@yahoo.com.

And to submit articles, announcements or photographs for the SDONS e-newsletter,

contact e-Newsletter Editor Laura Sauer at sd_ons@yahoo.com.

Copyright © 2016

San Diego Oncology Nursing Society (SDONS)