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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 Cox- Kennett, Sarah Champ, Marilyn Goodman
Retention and Recruitment subcom- mittee: 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 sev- eral evening educational sessions after work, with good attendance. We featured a glow-in-the-dark night at Halloween, with lots of Halloween goodies and pre- sentations 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 feed- back 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 cel- ebration, which will soon be upon us.
Our group has also been asked to partici- pate 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
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 round- table 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 ses- sion 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 pre- sented one of the topics. The febrile neutropenia presentation reviewed
risks of febrile neutropenia with dif- ferent 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 pharma- cist and myself, Adrienne Fulford, Hematology Nurse Practitioner. Newer treatment options for the rare condi- tion 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 pre- sented 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 per- sons 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)
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GREATER TORONTO CHAPTER OF ONCOLOGY NURSES
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 Non- Hodgkins 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 mem- bers by Oncology Nursing Day 2015!
During each of our educational events, our executive team helps new mem- bers 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 turn- out in Quebec City—more than 20 GTCON members gathered and social- ized. 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 aver- age, we have between 40 and 50 mem- bers attend each of our educational dinner events. We will be hosting three more educational events during our fis- cal 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 mem- bers 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 advance- ment 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 sum- mer 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
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 fund- raising 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 com- mittee 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—simcoe- musKoKA
Simcoe-Muskoka Chapter covers Barrie, Orillia, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville, Collingwood, and outly- ing areas. Our goal remains to increase membership and group involvement.
Although we had one of the greatest turn- outs 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 pro- viding affiliation to our professional association for nurses. We wanted them to feel a sense of belonging and have access to education, events, con- ferences 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 pro- viding a wonderful dinner at Liberty North and are hoping for another
240 Volume 25, Issue 2, sprIng 2015 • CanadIan onCology nursIng Journal reVue CanadIenne de soIns InfIrmIers en onCologIe
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great turnout. Last year we saw the greatest number of attendees, approx- imately 60 people. We had two wonder- ful 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 Simcoe- Muskoka Palliative Care Network, pro- vided 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, heart- felt 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 fam- ilies. We also would like to arrange a bake sale in the fall, as a fund raising event.
Submitted by Sandy Calvano, RN
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
L’ONIGA-North continue de se concentrer sur les besoins en éduca- tion 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 soi- rées éducatives après le travail, aux- quelles 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
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-question- naire sur l’oncologie qui récompen- sait les gagnants par une carte-cadeau Tim Horton’s, un présent que n’im- porte quel infirmier ou infirmière rêve de recevoir!
Notre équipe se prépare pour la Journée des soins infirmiers en onco- logie, 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 événe- ment devrait multiplier les occasions de contacts et de réseautage entre nos infir- mières 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 : trou- ver 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; communi- quer à tous les infirmiers et infirmières en oncologie qu’il est important d’ap- partenir à l’ACIO et les encourager à rejoindre nos rangs; enfin, arriver à pré- senter l’information spécialisée de sorte qu’elle puisse profiter à tous les niveaux
de pratique des soins infirmiers, tant pour les infirmières et infirmiers débu- tants que ceux possédant un peu plus d’expérience, ou encore les plus expé- rimentés 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 régio- nales, nous avons un petit groupe cen- tral 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 partici- per 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 ici- même, 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 pro- grammes 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
