“The Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is one of the most important member volunteer positions in the organization, and here’s why: The main purpose of the LDC is to recruit, vet, and select ONS Board of Directors. As some of you may know, it has been three years since we moved away from members voting for directors,” ONS member Nancy Houlihan, MA, RN, AOCN®, ONS past president and former director of nursing practice at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, NY, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about what it’s like to serve on the Leadership Development Committee. 

The advertising messages in this podcast episode are paid for by Ipsen.   

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod  

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  

Episode Notes  

• This episode is not eligible for NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes: 
  • Episode 340: What It’s Like to Plan an ONS Conference 
  • Episode 337: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Haynes, Wilson, and Yackzan 
  • Episode 270: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Brown, MacIntyre, and Woods 
  • Episode 239: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Allen, Mathey, and Robison 
  • Episode 224: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Nevidjon, Geddie, and Garner 
  • Episode 213: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Brant, Burger, and Knoop 
  • Episode 200: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Houlihan, Ferguson, and Polovich 
• ONS Voice articles: 
  • Find Your Voice With ONS’s Leadership Development Committee 
  • Nursing Leadership Unlocked 
  • Nurses Empower Change Through Leadership and Advocacy Roles 
  • Think Tank Will Explore Nurse Leadership Development Initiatives 
• ONS course: Board Leadership: Nurses in Governance 
• ONS Volunteer Opportunities  
• ONS Leadership Learning Library 
• Contact the LDC 

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

“I feel like I have come full circle, developing my knowledge and leadership skills over 25 years, both at ONS and in my professional career, applying them to ONS leadership as a director and an officer, and then transferring that knowledge to work with a diverse team of ONS members on the LDC to build the best slate of directors.” TS 3:52 

“There’s an annual review and editing of processes based on experience and discussion with board leadership and a review of the [notification of intent] and full applications of candidates for the board of directors. As you can imagine, reviewing the notifications of intent packages and the full applications, references, and interviews is very time consuming and requires significant at home and meeting time to complete. The application process is rigorous. The LDC members are the stewards of that work, ensuring fairness and ending with the best possible board of directors.” TS 6:22 

Each member of the LDC recognizes the importance of their role in identifying future leaders. They regularly interact with chapter members and leaders and others to relay the opportunities and processes for leadership roles, as I mentioned already, the LDC annually offers Round Table sessions at Congress and bridge. They are advertised to appeal to nurses with an interest in leadership in general, as well as at ONS.” TS 8:28 

“An important component to this role is meeting the diversity needs on the board, and every effort is made to ensure that our net is cast wide and is inclusive, while the skill set for board service is at a higher level, we uphold ONS principles relative to belonging and look for an inclusive compliment of directors.” TS 9:33 

“Frequently, the LDC works with qualified candidates who opt to wait to move forward because of work commitments, graduate school demands, or family concerns and come back when their lives are more settled, enough to take on the commitments of ONS. Support of employers is a required part of the application for the LDC and the board of directors, since time away from work can be challenging. However, many employees see ONS affiliation as a positive for their organization and are willing to engage in discussions with you about how to make a leadership role possible with your work responsibilities.”  TS 10:28 

“Historically, there has been a misconception that you can’t ‘break into ONS leadership.’ I have served the last four years, and my experience has been that we are always looking for new qualified thought leaders from every possible group that ONS serves. For example, we track what worksites our leaders come from so that we have every subspecialty’s voice over time.” TS 16:27  

“Bottom line is, ONS needs you. Don't be shy to try. The door is open to discuss, and the right opportunity could be available.” TS 17:00 

“I am constantly reminded about how smart and influential nurses are and how much they have to contribute. Working with an organization like ONS that unites you with others around a common purpose is very powerful.” TS 17:15  

“You know, ONS needs leaders; we’re always looking to talk with people about what their interests and strengths are and how they can develop some of those strengths through various volunteer activities.” TS 18:39 

“Key thing here is that it was discovered that when you have gene amplification of HER2 you get a resultant overexpression of that HER protein and that overexpression leads to a driver for certain cancers. So, when you have an overexpression of HER2, it leads to the cancer being more aggressive,” ONS member Rowena “Moe” Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP, FHOP, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about HER inhibitors. 

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 courses.ons.org by December 13, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. 

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to HER inhibitor drugs. 

Episode Notes  

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ Pharmacology 101 series  
• ONS Voice articles: 
  • Antibody–Drug Conjugates Join the Best of Two Worlds Into One New Treatment 
  • HER2 Therapies May Be Effective in a Variety of Solid Tumors 
  • Management Strategies for Cutaneous Toxicity From EGFR Inhibitors 
  • Manage Common Ocular Toxicities From Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors 
  • Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Combination Trastuzumab and Hyaluronidase-Oysk 
  • Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Elacestrant 
  • Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Margetuximab-Cmkb 
  • Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Talazoparib 
• ONS book: Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (Second Edition)  
• ONS courses: 
  • ONS Cancer Biology™  
  • ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™  
  • Safe Handling Basics  
• ONS Biomarker Database 
• ONS Learning Libraries: 
  • Genomics and Precision Oncology 
  • Oral Anticancer Medication  

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode 

“It was discovered that when you have gene amplification of HER2, you get a resultant overexpression of that HER protein, and that overexpression leads to a driver for certain cancers. So, when you have an overexpression of HER2, it leads to the cancer being more aggressive. In fact, when we first started talking about HER2 positive breast cancer, the key thing is, if we look at just the disease, not disease and treatment, that the patients that have HER2-positive breast cancers, they tended to be more aggressive because you had those drivers.” TS 3:30 

“Pertuzumab is also a naked antibody, but it binds to a different part of the extracellular domain. It prevents heterodimerization, so where trastuzumab prevents HER2/HER2, this presents HER2 and HER1, HER2 and HER3, HER2 and HER4 dimerization, and then that leads to downstream effects that causes cell arrest and leads to the benefit of inhibition.” TS 6:03 

“Key thing here is that we’ve learned, is that sometimes, that drug, when it’s released from the antibody, can be released from the cell and can hit cells around the cancer cell that overexpresses HER2. So that’s called the innocent bystander effect. So we’re learning a lot more about antibody–drug conjugates.” TS 7:35 

“The tyrosine kinase inhibitors, they’re interesting in that there are these small molecules, just like we know about other tyrosine kinase inhibitors that target intracellular catalytic kinase domain of HER2, so the internal part. Key thing is we have a number of different tyrosine kinase inhibitors and they target different parts of that family.” TS 7:54 

“The infusion-related reactions are really interesting, because one of the things we do with infusion-related reactions is, if we’re giving it in an IV formulation, we use those prolonged infusions for the first dose and then go faster with subsequent doses after we see how they tolerate. And then of course there is the development of these onc products that are given sub-Q that have less of the infusion-related reaction.” TS 15:49 

“One of the things that I see, I hear, is people say about these antibody–drug conjugates, which, you know, we use in all different diseases now. I hear so many people say these are not chemotherapy, and the thing of it is, they’re chemotherapy. I think people like to say they’re not chemotherapy because it makes people feel better that they’re not getting chemotherapy. But the reality of it is, is that they are monoclonal antibodies linked to a chemotherapy. So some of the side effects that you get are related to the chemotherapy. I think people need to realize that. You need to know what you’re giving.” TS 18:31 

“Don’t be afraid of applying, even if you’ve never planned a conference before, and you think, ‘Well, I have no idea what I’m doing.’ You probably know more than you think you do. You probably have more connections than you think you do, and it is such a worthwhile experience,” Colleen Erb, MSN, CRNP, ACNP-BC, AOCNP®, hematology and oncology nurse practitioner at Jefferson Health Asplundh Cancer Pavilion in Willow Grove, PA, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, conferences oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about serving on a planning committee for an ONS conference. 

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod Episode Notes  

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  

Episode Notes  

• This episode is not eligible for NCPD contact hours.  
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes: 
  • Episode 323: What It’s Like to Participate in an ONS Think Tank 
  • Episode 320: What It’s Like to Be a Peer Reviewer or Associate Editor for an ONS Journal 
  • Episode 309: What Brings You to ONS Congress®? Episode 183: How Oncology Nurses Find and Use Credible Patient Education Resources
• ONS Voice articles: 
  • What Brings You Value in ONS? You Can Thank a Volunteer for That 
  • The Power of Connection in Oncology Nursing 
• What Brings You Value in ONS? You Can Thank a Volunteer for That 
• The Power of Connection in Oncology Nursing 
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: What Is It Like to Chair the ONS Bridge™ Content Planning Team? 
• ONS Volunteer Opportunities 
• ONS Congress 
• ONS Evidence-Based Practice Learning Library 

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode 

“I saw a link on the ONS website looking for volunteer opportunities and applied, not thinking that I’d actually get chosen because I had never done anything like this before. I had spoken at conferences, but I had never been part of the planning committee. The application [had] some open-ended questions about what your expertise is and where your interests lie. … And then I got a phone call from the planning chair for that year, and we talked a little bit more in depth about the questions that were on the application, and my interests, and how I thought I would fit on the team.” TS 2:05 

“The main part [of the work] was topic selection and then speaker selection once we narrowed down the topics. I feel like there was a lot of brainstorming and group effort to both of those things. You don’t have to individually have an exact topic or an exact speaker. There was a lot of ‘I think this general broad topic would be good,’ and then we narrowed it down as a group to something that would fit into a 45-minute presentation.” TS 4:30 

“We talked about interventional radiology and how it seemed like it was taking on much more of a bigger role in oncology and how that could fit into the conference and whether we wanted to have a specific topic or an overview of the things that interventional radiology can offer for oncology patients. And we ended up doing kind of like a 101 topic on that one, because it was a newer topic that people were kind of interested in just hearing, like, ‘Hey, what do you guys do for cancer patients?’” TS 8:44 

“I learned a lot about the backstage process of conferences. I had spoken before, but seeing the other side of it was a whole different picture—and all the work that goes into it—and I really learned a lot about picking the topics and how do we find the best information and the best sort of new themes to present to every time.” TS 12:04 

“Just do it. Don’t be afraid of applying, even if you’ve never planned a conference before, and you think, ‘Well, I have no idea what I’m doing.’ You probably know more than you think you do. You probably have more connections than you think you do, and it is such a worthwhile experience. And you learn so much about yourself and about the other people on the team. And the information that you’re presenting just is huge for a lot of people. So if you’re even thinking about it, just fill out the application.” TS 14:06

“The nurse’s role in monitoring the lab values really depends on the clinics you're working at, but really when our patients are receiving treatment, especially in the infusion center, the nurses should be looking at those lab values prior to treatment being started,” Clara Beaver, DNP, RN, AOCNS®, ACNS-BC, clinical nurse specialist at Karmanos Cancer Center in Michigan told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS during a conversation about how to monitor and educate patients with cancer. 

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod  

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  

Earn [#] contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by November 29, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.  

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to monitoring labs and educating patients with cancer.

Episode Notes  

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.  
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes: 
  • Episode 319: Difficult Conversations About Pregnancy Testing in Cancer Care
  • Episode 311: Standardized Pregnancy Testing Processes in Cancer Care
  • Episode 183: How Oncology Nurses Find and Use Credible Patient Education Resources 
  • Episode 179: Learn How to Educate Patients During Immunotherapy 
  • Episode 87: What Are the Biggest Barriers to Patient Education? 
  • Episode 43: Sharing Patient, Provider, and Caregiver Resources 
• ONS Voice articles:  
  • Patient Education Reduces Barriers and Increases Adherence Rates 
  • Nurses Must Understand Health Disparities to Provide Effective Patient Education 
  • Oncology Nurses Can Improve Oral Medication Management With Patient Education Program 
• ONS Course: ONS Fundamentals of Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Administration™  
• Oncology Nursing Forum article: Antineoplastic Therapy Administration Safety Standards for Adult and Pediatric Oncology: ASCO-ONS Standards
• Clinical Calculations—ANC Huddle Card

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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].  

“Your traditional chemotherapy agents are the ones that we see the most lab abnormalities with, and we can predict those a little bit more with the advent of more of the advanced targeted therapies and immunotherapies, we still see lab values that are altered because of the way that the treatment works, but they may differ a little bit than what we traditionally saw with our normal chemotherapy agents.” TS 2:51 

“I talked about the lifespan of all the other cells, and Neutrophils are usually what stop treatment, and part of that is, is that the lifespan of a neutrophil is 48 hours. It is proliferated very frequently in the bone marrow. But that is usually what we see. The cells that we see that stop treatment, and as you mentioned earlier, classic chemotherapy really the types of treatment that historically, we've been given and we have given to patients, and we've seen those blood counts really significantly impacted.” TS 6:21 

“Kidney function, or renal function tests, are really determined whether the kidneys are functioning the way they should be. We look at an estimated glomerular filtration rate, or GFR, which is really based on the patient’s protein level, their age, gender, and race. And the test really looks at how efficiently the kidneys are clearing the waste from the body. So that’s really one that we need to look at, especially as we’re giving agents that are excreted through the kidneys.” TS 12:23 

“I think it’s important for nurses to start looking at lab results with their patient very early on, you know, even before treatment starts, so they understand what the normals look like. So when they do get those lab results, because now pretty much everybody has patient portals, right? So the labs are reported in there, and they’re seeing the labs before they're talking to their providers.  if we can start early on and talk to them about what the normal lab values are, what they mean, and what we're looking at when we're drawing these labs. I think it’s really important for the patient.” TS 27:00 

“Although the patient is spending a little less time in the clinic, the administration actually requires the nurse to be at the chairside the entire time. This has allowed nurses to spend potentially uninterrupted time to sit and converse with the patients that they may not have had with an IV infusion. It’s been a wonderful unintentional outcome from the development of the large-volume subcutaneous injections,” Crystal Derosier, MSN, RN, OCN®, clinical specialist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, MA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about administering high-volume subcutaneous injections in cancer care.

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 courses.ons.org by November 22, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to the administration of high-volume subcutaneous injections.

Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
  • Episode 326: Intramuscular Injections: The Oncology Nurse’s Role
  • Episode 285: Transarterial Chemoembolization: The Oncology Nurse’s Role
  • 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
• ONS Voice articles:
  • Administration Considerations Amid the Large-Volume Subcutaneous Injection Revolution
  • FDA Approves Atezolizumab and Hyaluronidase-Tqjs for Subcutaneous Injection
  • Make Subcutaneous Administration More Comfortable for Your Patients
  • Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Pertuzumab, Trastuzumab, and Hyaluronidase-Zzxf Subcutaneous Injection
  • ONS Voice Oncology Drug Reference Sheets
• ONS book: Access Device Guidelines: Recommendations for Nursing Practice and Education (Fourth Edition)
• ONS course: ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Subcutaneous Administration: Evolution, Challenges, and the Role of Hyaluronidase
• Oncology Nursing Forum article: Administration of Subcutaneous Monoclonal Antibodies in Patients With Cancer

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

“Some challenges with subcutaneous injections are with the administration, especially when we’re thinking about large-volume drugs. … Some of these patients who have been through multiple therapies, they’ve been on a long journey, or just in general they may have small amounts of subcutaneous injection areas and tissues, so that could be problematic. … Also, some patients may want to go back to receiving IV medications if they experience severe pain at an injection site during administration, or maybe they had a site-related reaction. This is where the nurses play a huge, crucial role in the administration of these subcutaneous drugs.” TS 5:17

“When administering large-volume subcutaneous injections, good ergonomics is very important during the administration because this can help reduce the fatigue and discomfort not only for [nurses] but for the patients as well. If you’re trying to hold the needle in place for 5–10 minutes, it’s a lot of work. Your arms can start to shake, and that shaking can cause discomfort for the patient as well. The utilization of a winged infusion set for these large volumes allows more space between the patient and the nurse, which supports better ergonomics.” TS 11:20

“When they came to the market, there was an unfounded concern from patients and practitioners that these injections would not be as effective as their IV counterparts. This is totally incorrect. We know that these options have the same efficacy and may actually also help to reduce the incidence of any infusion-related reactions, as well as lower side-effect impacts on patients, so overall, a lot of improvement with these high-volume subcutaneous injections for the patient experience.” TS 21:37

“I’m just really looking forward to the future landscape of oncology practice and drug approvals and drug administration. It’s so important that subcutaneous injections have really made a name for themselves in nursing practice today. We continue to see more subcutaneous formulations on the market that are available for patients, allowing them less time in infusion chairs and more flexibility and freedom outside of the healthcare setting.” TS 24:39

“The gravity of the responsibility was realized when you walked into the boardroom and you’re there to make decisions, and the perspective you have to take shifts. Of course, I bring to the table my expertise and my perspective, but the decision-making and strategy behind it is really geared at sustaining the organization and moving us towards our mission, which is to advance excellence in oncology nursing and quality cancer care. Being able to reframe your perspective a little bit around those decisions is something that you don’t realize until you’re there to do that,” ONS director-at-large Ryne Wilson, DNP, RN, OCN®, told Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN, chief executive officer at ONS, during a conversation with the three new 2024–2027 directors-at-large on the ONS Board. Nevidjon spoke with Wilson, Heidi Haynes, MN, CRNP, OCN®, and Susan Yackzan, PhD, APRN, AOCN®, about their careers, paths to serving on the Board, and passions in oncology.

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) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by November 15, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to the key roles of the ONS Board of Directors.

Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
  • Episode 270: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Brown, MacIntyre, and Woods
  • Episode 239: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Allen, Mathey, and Robison
  • Episode 224: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Nevidjon, Geddie, and Garner
  • Episode 213: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Brant, Burger, and Knoop
  • Episode 200: Meet the ONS Board of Directors: Houlihan, Ferguson, and Polovich
• ONS Voice articles:
  • Climate Change Is Contributing to the Cancer Burden, and Nurses Must Take Action
  • Mentorships Open Opportunities for Oncology Nurses’ Career Growth and Wellness
  • Oncology Nurse Joins Panel to Discuss Solutions to Advance Equitable Cancer Care for the LGBTQ+ Community
  • Seeds Planted Today Nurture a Harvest of Future Generations of Oncology Nurses
  • Find Your Voice With ONS’s Leadership Development Committee
• ONS courses:
  • Advocacy 101: Making a Difference
  • A Guide to Chapter Leadership: Chapter President Training
  • A Guide to Chapter Finances: Chapter Treasurer Training
  • Board Leadership: Nurses in Governance
• ONS Leadership
• ONS Leadership Learning Library
• ONS Network and Advocacy Resources
• Joint Position Statement from APHON, CANO/ACIO, and ONS Regarding Fertility Preservation in Individuals with Cancer

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

Wilson: “After graduating and moving to Minnesota, I immediately joined the Southeast Minnesota chapter of the Oncology Nursing Society and served on the board and a few different positions, as membership chair and as the legislative liaison for the chapter, as well. And I had the opportunity to go to my first ONS Congress®. That really opened my eyes to all of the possibilities and all the really incredible work that so many of our colleagues across the country have been doing, which really was inspiring and really made me want to do more. I took on more volunteer opportunities within society—things like the OCN® Passing Score Task Force with ONCC, as a Biomarker Database expert reviewer, the Symptom Intervention Guidelines reviewer, and several other volunteer opportunities, just to stay connected and build relationships, but also give back to the profession that had really given so much to me.” TS 10:06

Haynes: “What I’ve been learning is how to transfer that passion and leadership experience that I learned at the local level and grow them into bigger-picture skills, sort of switching my hat and supporting our oncology nurses on more of a global level. I would say for those interested in a national Board position but unsure how they would navigate being new to the role, I can tell you the personal support of the new Board members has been wonderful. Brenda, you and the more senior members of the Board and the National ONS team have all been welcoming and willingly share their knowledge. We even get assigned a Board buddy, and I have to give a shoutout to my Board buddy, Trey Woods, who has graciously—more than graciously—put up with all of my questions and pestering along the way.” TS 16:39

Yackzan: “Well, the health of the organization is a responsibility. So that’s what you’re giving yourself over to and the task. The chapter board is just on a much more local and scaled back level. I mean this reaches a different proportion. So, you know, it’s not that it was the prior. I just think the full impact of it sort of comes to you when you’re in the Board meeting and you’re thinking through those things. The budget committee is one of the committees that I’m on, and I’m happy to report that we’re very healthy. And that’s because of the great stewards who came before me, and so, like everybody else on the Board, we feel the impact of making sure that that continues because oncology nursing is essential. We must continue to go forward.” TS 18:18

“Under normal conditions, EGFR [epidermal growth factor receptor] is in an auto-inhibited state. And it’s only when it’s needed that it’s upregulated. But when you have cancers that there is either a mutation in the EGFR or an overexpression, what you see is a dysregulation of normal cellular processes. So you get overexpression or switching on of prosurvival or antiapoptotic responses,” Rowena “Moe” Schwartz, professor of pharmacy practice at James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, told Lenise Taylor, MN, RN, AOCNS®, BMTCN®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS, during a conversation about the EGFR inhibitor drug class.

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 courses.ons.org by November 8, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to EGFR inhibitor drugs.

Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
• Pharmacology 101 series
• Episode 250: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Dermatologic Complications
• Episode 226: Patient Education for Next-Generation Sequencing to Guide Cancer Therapy
• Episode 169: How Biomarker Testing Drives the Use of Targeted Therapies
• Episode 157: Biomarker Testing Improves Outcomes for Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
• ONS Voice articles:
• Management Strategies for Cutaneous Toxicity From EGFR Inhibitors
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Amivantamab-Vmjw
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Osimertinib
• Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Panitumumab
• Targeted Therapies Are Transforming the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
• ONS books:
• Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations for Practice (Second Edition)
• Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook (Fourth Edition)
• ONS courses:
• ONS Cancer Biology™
• ONS/ONCC Chemotherapy Immunotherapy Certificate™
• Safe Handling Basics
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
• Afatinib Therapy: Practical Management of Adverse Events With an Oral Agent for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment
• Cutaneous Toxicities With Amivantamab for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Practical Guide and Best Practices
• Medication Adherence Barriers: Development and Retrospective Pilot Test of an Evidence-Based Screening Instrument
• ONS Guidelines™ for Cancer Treatment–Related Skin Toxicity
• Nursing Management of Skin Toxicities in Diverse Skin Tones
• ONS Bispecific Antibody Video
• ONS Learning Libraries:
• Genomics and Precision Oncology
• Oral Anticancer Medication
• Oral Chemotherapy Education Sheets
• Seminars in Cancer Biology article: EGFR signaling pathway as therapeutic target in human cancers

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

“It wasn’t until 2004 that the mutations affecting the tyrosine kinase domain of epidermal growth factor receptor was linked to the responses that were seen in gefitinib. And that’s when we really started to understand the way that this was targeting certain patients’ cancers. So that led to the phase three study. People may remember the IPASS study that demonstrated that when patients had an activating mutation of EGFR, that that was a really good biomarker that selected out patients that would respond to therapy.” TS 2:58

“The new player on the market is the bispecific. … This was a bispecific that was developed to hit two different targets. The one target is EGFR. The second target was MET. And the reason MET was targeted is because when you have patients who are on EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, they do so well. But over time, resistance develops. And one of the mechanisms that are thought to be important for resistance is that MET pathway. So it was a development of a bispecific antibody that hit two different targets, EGFR and MET, hoping that you would get less resistance.” TS 7:12

“The other thing that I see with these agents is seeing them combined with chemotherapy. For a long time, it was these drugs were used as the single approach to someone with non-small cell lung cancer who had an EGFR mutation, and they did well. But I think we’re starting to see that because resistance does develop, that there may be roles for combination with chemotherapy, and you’re seeing that in terms of drug approval.” TS 19:10

“I think that people that don’t work in the clinic, say, with non-small cell lung cancer—they think of these as a group and don’t realize the uniqueness of specific agents, what mutations that they hit that affected those that penetrate into the [central nervous system], the drug interactions that are specific for certain agents. So I think that’s one of the common misconceptions.” TS 22:02

“The education, because it evolves so rapidly, is to realize that what you know, if it’s from a year ago, may not be the full picture. And so again, I’m going to call out ONS for the phenomenal resources on the Genomics and Precision Oncology Learning Library to help providers learn. And that is updated, and it is readily available. I think it is phenomenal, and I think it helps people build on their basic understanding of any of these types of therapy, including EGFR inhibitors.” TS 23:24

Episode 335: Ultrasound-Guided IV Placement in the Oncology Setting

“Much like many experienced oncology nurses, I learned how to do IVs with palpation. I got really good at it. And so I thought, there’s no way I need this ultrasound. But we know now that our patients are sicker. There are more DIVA patients, or difficult IV access patients. We’ve got to put the patient first, and we’ve got to use the best technology. So I’ve really come full circle with my thinking. In fact, now it’s like driving a car without a seatbelt,” MiKaela Olsen, DNP, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, FAAN, clinical program director of oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Health System told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about ultrasound-guided IV placement.

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 courses.ons.org by November 1, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report an increase in knowledge related to ultrasound-guided peripheral IV placement in the oncology setting.

Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes: Episode 127: Reduce and Manage Extravasation When Administering Antineoplastic Agents
• ONS Voice articles:
  • Access Devices and Central Lines: New Evidence and Innovations Are Changing Practice, but Individual Patient Needs Always Come First
  • Standardizing Venous Access Assessment and Validating Safe Chemo Administration Drastically Lowers Rates of Adverse Venous Events
• ONS book: Access Device Guidelines: Recommendations for Nursing Practice and Education (Fourth Edition)
• ONS courses:
  • Complications of Vascular Access Devices (VAD) and Intravenous (IV) Therapy
  • Vascular Access Devices
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Standardized Venous Access Assessment and Safe Chemotherapy Administration to Reduce Adverse Venous Events
• StatPearls Video: Forearm Anatomy Review and Ultrasound Probing
• Infusion Nurses Society: Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice (Ninth Edition)

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

“The benefit of having an ultrasound, it allows you to see through. You’re no longer sort of bound by, ‘Can I feel it? Are there skin discolorations or skin colors that are affecting my ability to see the vein clearly?’ You don’t have to worry about any of that. Is there edema? Is there lots of tissue? You can actually directly visualize the veins to assess not only the health of the vein, but some of the complications that could be there, like a thrombus in the vein or sclerosis or tortuous anatomy, arteries, nerve bundles. Those are things that you can now see with your machine.” TS 8:55

“I think that the most important part of [training] is having a really good didactic session where nurses come in and they learn reminders about the anatomy. Where are these veins? Where are the best veins to canulate when you’re using ultrasound? And we like to avoid the veins above the antecube for regular long peripheral IVs that we insert with ultrasound because we want to preserve those veins up higher for our [peripherally inserted central catheter] lines and midline. So we want to teach to try to use the forearm. The cephalic vein in the forearm is a really excellent vein to choose.” TS 17:24

“[Patients] are usually kind of impressed with the machine and the technology, and I explain that ‘We’re not able to get it without being able to see better, so I’m going to use my machine so that I can see better.’ And almost every time after I’m done, the patient is like, ‘Wow, are you done?’ … It’s the initial little puncture that hurts the patient. But unlike when we do it blindly and maybe we don’t get it right in the vein, and we’re having to dig around and reposition ourselves and get into that vein, we’re not doing that with ultrasound because you’re going to go into the vein, and then you're starting to do the threading, and you’re pulling your probe up as you go to get that catheter in the vein. The patient doesn’t feel that part. So they often comment about how they barely felt it and they can’t believe it’s over.” TS 21:21

“This is kind of my measure of success when we’re no longer kind of putting this on the patient. We’re not saying, ‘You have difficult veins. Your veins roll. You’re not drinking enough.’ That’s not okay anymore. We’ve got to take responsibility and use technology to do this more successfully.” TS 30:24

“There is an old saying that if you ignore your teeth, they’ll go away. I think that’s a true, true statement. People may think they can get away without daily hygiene. I think that’s kind of important, that you should at least get your teeth taken care of at least once or twice a day by brushing and flossing. I mean this has been proven. Our dental people have really taken the lead on preventive care with oral hygiene in that respect,” Raymond Scarpa, DNP, APN-C, AOCN® clinical program manager of head and neck oncology and supervisory advanced practice nurse in the department of otolaryngology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark,told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the importance of oral health for patients with cancer.

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 courses.ons.org by October 25, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to oral care for patients with cancer.

Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
• Episode 269: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Gastrointestinal Complications
• Episode 116: Screen and Manage Malnutrition in Patients With Cancer
• ONS Voice articles:
• Manage Late Effects From HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancers
• Nursing Considerations for Head and Neck Cancer Survivorship Care
• Research Shows That Vaping Alters Mouth Microbes
• The Case of the Missing Oral Mucositis
• What Advanced Practice Providers Need to Know About Oral Mucositis
• ONS book: Clinical Manual for the Oncology Advanced Practice Nurse (Fourth Edition)
• ONS course: Introduction to Nutrition in Cancer Care
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
• Dental Care: Unmet Oral Needs of Patients With Cancer and Survivors
• HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer: The Nurse’s Role in Patient Management of Treatment-Related Sequelae
• Low-Level Laser Therapy: A Literature Review of the Prevention and Reduction of Oral Mucositis in Patients Undergoing Stem Cell Transplantation
• ONS Symptom Interventions: Mucositis
• American Cancer Society
• Oral Cavity (Mouth) and Oropharyngeal (Throat) Cancer
• Palliative Treatment for Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Cancer
• Head and Neck Cancer Alliance

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

“Radiation, with or without a combination of chemotherapy, can lead to xerostomia, which is like a dry mouth. When this occurs, there’s reduced or even absent salivary flow. When this happens, it can lead to mucositis, which is a very painful swelling of the mucous membranes in the oral cavity. This increases the risk of infection and compromises speaking, chewing, and swallowing. Certain chemotherapeutic agents can also accelerate and increase the severity of these side effects.” TS 3:54

“I think pretreatment of the oral cavity prior to starting any of these treatments is a key to managing some of the side effects that can occur. This includes a referral to the dentist for any kind of extractions and removal of any nonviable dentation, along with providing some what they call fluoride treatments. The nurses can also influence the patient by helping them with their nutrition. It’s important for them to continue to try to swallow despite some of the side effects that can cause the discomfort in swallowing.” TS 6:53

“I always encourage [patients] to try to use soft-bristle toothbrushes, [water flossers] if necessary, soft foods, nonspicy foods, foods with moderate temperatures. … Try to make sure that they have enough lubrication to get the nutrition they need by including some gravies or sauces or water to help them swallow when their saliva is altered due to these side effects from the treatments.” TS 10:18

“I’ve been working in the head and neck cancer field for quite some time, and over the years, I’ve come to realize that this is probably one of the most devastating types of malignancies that someone has. … Head and neck cancer and oral cancers—they affect your basic survival needs. They affect your ability to communicate. They affect your ability to take in nutrition. They can affect your ability to breathe and certainly affect when someone looks at you. It’s right there. It’s staring them in the face. You can see the side effects of their treatments.” TS 22:41

“CDK4/6 inhibition is considered to be a milestone in the realm of targeted breast cancer therapy. The combination of CDK4/6 inhibitors with the endocrine therapy has really emerged as the foremost therapeutic modality for patients diagnosed with hormone receptor–positive, HER2-negative, advanced breast cancer,” ONS member Teresa Knoop, MSN, RN, AOCN®-emeritus, independent nurse consultant in Nashville, TN, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during the latest episode in our series about anticancer drug classes.

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) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by October 18, 2026. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to CDK inhibitors.

Episode Notes 

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. 
• Oncology Nursing Podcast™ episodes:
  • Pharmacology 101 series
  • Episode 329: Pharmacology 101: BRAF Inhibitors
  • Episode 313: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Other Pulmonary Complications
  • Episode 295: Cancer Symptom Management Basics: Pulmonary Embolism, Pneumonitis, and Pleural Effusion
  • Episode 80: Patients Need Checkpoint Inhibitor Education
  • Episode 5: New Guidelines for Managing Immunotherapy-Related Adverse Events
• ONS Voice articles:
  • Combination CDK4/6 and Fulvestrant Has Survival Benefits in Late-Stage Breast Cancer
  • FDA Approves Inavolisib With Palbociclib and Fulvestrant for Endocrine-Resistant, PIK3CA-Variant, HR-Positive, HER2-Negative, Advanced Breast Cancer
  • FDA Approves Ribociclib With an Aromatase Inhibitor and Ribociclib and Letrozole Co-Pack for Early High-Risk Breast Cancer
  • FDA Expands Early Breast Cancer Indication for Abemaciclib With Endocrine Therapy
  • FDA Warns of Rare Lung Inflammation With Certain CDK4/6 Inhibitors
  • Manage Immunotherapy-Related Diarrhea and Colitis
  • Oncology Drug Reference Sheet: Ribociclib
  • The Case of the CTCAE Assessment for CDK4/6 Adverse Events
• ONS book: Clinical Guide to Antineoplastic Therapy: A Chemotherapy Handbook (fourth edition)
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Targeted Therapies: Treatment Options for Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer
• ONS Symptom Intervention: Prevention of Infection: General 
• ONS Breast Cancer Learning Library
• ONS CDK4/6 Administration Checklist
• ONS Oral Anticancer Medication Toolkit 
• Breastcancer.org
• Susan G. Komen: CDK4/6 Inhibitors
• Ibrance® (palbociclib) patient site
• Kisqali® (ribociclib) patient site
• Verzenio® (abemaciclib) patient site

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

To find resources for creating an Oncology Nursing 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 This Episode

“Common toxicity among this class of agents are things like nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue. All three are associated with low white blood cell counts, which we know as neutropenia, which can cause an increased risk of infection.” TS 10:46

“All three of these CDK4/6 inhibitors are pills taken by mouth, and in most cases they’re all given along with endocrine therapy treatments. So, patients will be taking more than one drug. Teach patients how they will take their medication. And the frequency among the three drugs may vary.” TS 13:33

“Patients and caregivers need to know the time of day to take the pills, whether they need to be taken with or without food, or what to do if they miss a dose. We need to help them with a system for organizing the medications. They may find it helpful to use a pill organizer or set reminders on their smartphone, their smartwatch, their computer.” TS 14:29 

“Pharmacy and nursing, in my experience, collaborate greatly by determining those drug–drug and drug–food interactions. It is so crucial in determining those interactions and educating our patients because we have to remind patients at each appointment and review these drugs and foods and other things they may be taking, at each appointment. And that often can be done by either pharmacists or nurses or both in collaboration.” TS 23:29

“This class of drug is generally well-tolerated, and I do want nurses to know that that we can help patients with these side effects. And they are generally well-tolerated with appropriate management.” TS 30:55