EONS Newsletter February 2024

SIGN UP FOR THE EONS LEADERSHIP FORUM

Sign up NOW for the EONS Leadership Forum: '40 years of EONS Cancer Nursing Leadership'.

This key event takes place on 15 May 2024, at Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland, and is for clinical nurses, nurse managers, cancer nursing directors, educators, stakeholders and policy makers. Attendance can be live or online.

The aims of the Leadership Forum are to:

Early Bird Fee: 150 EURO (Until February 29, 2024)

Leadership Summit Fee: 180 EURO (From March 01, 2024, onwards)

Online Attendance Fee: 80 EURO
Find out more and REGISTER

Apply now to attend the 5th EONS PhD Research Workshop 2024, in Ghent, Belgium, 3-5th June 2024. This exciting opportunity is designed for oncology nurses who are at any stage of their doctoral studies and who would like to network with other PhD students and improve their knowledge, confidence and expertise in oncology nursing research, as applied to their PhD. The aim of the 3-day workshop is to offer an opportunity to discuss, develop and share ideas and gain European perspectives in relation to doctoral research, within a supportive learning environment. 10 places are available. Deadline 3 March.

The expert facilitators are: Sara Colomer-Lahiguera (Switzerland), Maura Dowling (Ireland), Susana Miguel (Portugal), Eva Pape (Belgium).

Find out more and apply

On February 4, EONS launched a ‘Cancer Prevention Across Europe’ Position Statement in line with the World Cancer Day goal to Close the Care Gap and to secure the legacy of the ground-breaking PrEvCan campaign.The statement secures the commitment of cancer workforce organisations at the frontline of cancer care in Europe to helping reduce the growing burden of cancer and to closing the inequalities in healthcare systems. The statement also outlines the key elements and remarkable achievements of the PrEvCan campaign, which was led by EONS with ESMO as key campaign partner, plus 66 other partners, and ran from October 2022/3.
View the video

READ THE LATEST ECN BLOG – FROM OUR NEW CO-CHAIRS

Dimitrios Protogiros, from Greece, and Irati Rodriguez Matesanz, from Spain, are taking up their roles as the new co-chairs of the EONS ECN WG. They say, “With a deep sense of respect, gratitude and responsibility, it gives us great pleasure to initiate our two-year term as co-chairs of the newly established EONS Early Career Nurses Working Group (EONS ECN WG) and to share our vision of the EONS ECN for the next two years... We look forward to further developing our relationships with Early Career Nurse ambassadors from around Europe, to discussing challenges, exchanging ideas and experiences and identifying common ways to overcome barriers.”

Read the full YCN blog

The theme of European Cancer Nursing Day (ECND24) this year – From Knowledge to Action: Shaping the future of cancer nursing – reflects and celebrates the fact that 2024 is EONS’ 40th anniversary. EONS will mark ECND24 with an online social media celebration by cancer nurses across Europe on 18 May. EONS President Virpi Sulosaari said: “Mark your calendars for ECND24 on Saturday 18 May. It’s going to be a wonderful day when we all come together on social media to spread important messages about the future of our profession. Stay tuned and look out for more about this year’s ECND24 Competition and a special award to mark this 40th anniversary year.”

A toolkit of materials is available on the EONS website to help you prepare to celebrate the day. Details on how to enter this year’s ECND24 video competition and win free enrolment to EONS17 in Barcelona, plus details of the special award, are coming soon. Watch this space and keep an eye on the website.

Meetings of the EONS Working Groups will also take place in Turku, Finland, hosted by our President Virpi Sulosaari, to discuss our organisation’s future plans.
Find out more about ECND24

EONS17 CONFERENCE – TIME TO SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT!

The EONS17 conference takes place in Barcelona from September 14-16. EONS is inviting abstracts on research studies and quality improvement projects. Our priority is for speakers and poster presenters with a nursing background, thus many of the presentations are often a work conducted by a multidisciplinary team. Key information for presenting authors and some advice on finding the best abstract category may be found here, including possible suitable topics on each category. EONS follows all ESMO Congress submission regulations and guidelines. For further information and to submit an abstract, go to the ESMO congress web page. Deadline for submission is 7 May.

Three years after the adoption of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, held a high-level event to take stock of Europe’s efforts to improve the lives of everyone touched by cancer and to take the lead in the fight against this disease. The event in Brussels on 31 January 2024 was attended by EONS President Virpi Sulosaari (left), Past-President Johan de Munter (right), and COO Richard Kelly. Stella Kyriakides (centre) expressed gratitude to all contributors involved in the diverse projects initiated by the EU Participants. The event attendees included experts, policymakers and officials from across the EU, operating at both European and national levels. The complete agenda of the event, as well as information about its speakers, can be found here.

EONS President-Elect Helena Ullgren will speak at the Nordic Precision Medicine Forum 2024 on Tuesday 23 April at the Elite Hotel Marina Tower, Stockholm, Sweden. Helena will present on ‘Cancer nursing in the era of precision medicine’ with a focus on:
• Precision throughout the care trajectory, what does this mean?
• Precision in assessment before treatment - beyond genomics and biological features of the tumour
• Precision and person-centeredness, perspectives from cancer nursing
• Implications for the patient and health-care system when we are not precise enough.
Find out more

The EWG is looking for members who are actively engaged in education related to cancer nursing, either in university or clinical education and who have the time, enthusiasm and commitment to support EONS develop the education of cancer nurses and its impact across Europe. Should you be interested in joining, please provide a maximum of two-page CV and letter of interest, including reasons for wanting to join the group and a summary of what you would bring to it, to Rudi Brike at eons.secretariat@cancernurse.eu
Please note the deadline for applications is 28 February.
Find out more and apply

Our EONS individual, society, and associate members whose membership ends in December 2023 will have received an invitation to renew their membership for the year 2024. Updated information regarding rates and a registration form is available on the EONS membership webpages. We look forward to working together in the coming year to promote and support cancer nursing across Europe.
Renew your membership

The RCC4Nurses project (Improving quality of nursing care in advanced renal cell carcinoma) is now entering Phase 3. In this phase (months 13-21), we will implement and evaluate the programme in English. The programme consists of four modules and is designed by top cancer experts. The modules feature case studies, questions, videos and interactive activities, which give you lots of opportunities to develop your knowledge and check your understanding about best supportive care in advanced RCC. Upon completion, you will be able to claim your certificate of attendance. To take part in this research please register here

Find out more about RCC4Nurses

The European School of Oncology (ESO) and the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) are delighted to announce that Kritikou Evangelia from Greece will receive a fellowship to go to European institute of oncology, Milan, Italy, and Politis Nikolas, also from Greece, will receive a fellowship to go to Champalimaud Clinical Centre ,Lisbon, Portugal. (The fellowship for the Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland will be announced in due course.) This fellowship programme is a collaboration between EONS and the European School of Oncology (ESO).The aim is to encourage the reduction of variability in outcomes of cancer care between countries, as well as within regions in each country, by giving cancer professionals the chance to experience working in multiprofessional teams in accredited centres in Europe.
Find out more

As part of a partnership deal, EONS members are entitled to a 50% discount on a 1-year online membership with Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) when registering at https://mascc.org/join-mascc/ – to request the discount code to activate this, please email eons.secretariat@cancernurse.eu. The Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) is an international, multidisciplinary organization with members representing over sixty (60) countries and five continents. Founded in 1990, MASCC is dedicated to research and education in all aspects of supportive care for patients with cancer, regardless of the stage of their disease.

The European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) is following developments in Ukraine with great sadness. Our mission is to ensure that all people affected by cancer benefit from equal, safe and high-quality care. This brutal act of war is endangering all people in Ukraine – including the oncology workforce who, with other healthcare colleagues, are working under unbearable pressure. EONS stands firmly against all forms of violence and is hoping that this appalling situation, and its far-reaching consequences, can be defused for the sake of all innocent parties caught up in it. We encourage people to back European and International organisations in their support of the people of Ukraine. EONS will try its best to find ways to reach out to the oncology workforce and people affected by cancer and help in capacity building where possible. War only brings loss, sadness and inhumane suffering and we truly hope for a peaceful resolution. Our thoughts are with all the people of Ukraine.

Anyone interested in joining EONS, be it as a new individual, society, or associate member, can join at any time during the year by completing the online application form available on the specific membership webpage. We warmly invite you to join us and to tell your friends and colleagues about EONS too. Membership of EONS provides a wealth of opportunities to further your education, develop your career and learn about all the latest research. We have lots of exciting plans and events lined up for the coming year and you can keep up to date with all our activities on the EONS website – and check out how to follow us across social media on the homepage too.

The European Cancer Organisation (ECO) has launched INTERACT EUROPE 100, the second phase of the EU co-funded project for an Inter-Specialty Cancer Training Programme.An inaugural event, on 8-9 February in Barcelona, showcased the project's goals and impact and gathered stakeholder insights, advice, and priorities for what inter-specialty training they want for their own cancer teams. INTERACT-EUROPE 100 is a 36-month project (December 2023 – December 2026) to provide cancer care professionals with that essential knowledge through an Inter-specialty Cancer Training (ISCT) curriculum in 100 cancer centres across Europe. It is co-funded by the European Union under the EU4Health programme 2021-2027 as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and involves 38 partner organisations, from 15 European countries in developing the curriculum. President Elect Helena Ullgren represented EONS at the event, along with Virpi Sulosaari in her project role, Principal lecturer at Turku University of Applied Sciences. The project target groups are oncology and other medical specialists, cancer nurses and allied health professionals working in cancer care.

Find out more

Scientists have developed a new DNA test that could detect 18 different types of early-stage cancers in a concept study representing all the major organs of the human body. The new findings could kick-start a new generation of screening tests for early detection of cancer, researchers say. The test can particularly help pick up many sex-specific differences in cancer, including variations of the disease among men and women in terms of age at occurrence, cancer types, and genetic alterations, the study, published in the journal BMJ Oncology noted.
Find out more

Blood Matters – a Podcast for Nurses is a discussion and education space for nurses and health professionals working in the field of stem cell transplantation and cell therapy. Covering a wide scope of relevant topics, hosts Clinical Educator Emma Chalmers and EBMT Nurses Group President Michelle Kenyon bring their informal interview and conversation style with a fantastic expert guest line-up.

Listen

Don’t miss the latest issue of The European Journal of Oncology Nursing (EJON), an international journal which publishes research of direct relevance to patient care, nurse education, management and policy development. As an EONS member you can read it free.

Sign up to read the journal free

HIGH QUALITY ARTICLES – FREE ON THE EONS WEBSITE

Did you know that you can access a wide range of high-quality reading material about cancer care via the EONS website? Why not dip in to our ‘Publications with EONS Representatives’ page and extend your knowledge. Articles on ‘The cost of living with cancer during the second wave of COVID-19: A mixed methods study of Danish cancer patients’ perspectives’ and a ‘Position statement won Oncology and Cancer Nursing Care for Older Adults with Cancer and their Caregivers’ are among the many interesting links you will find there.
Visit the page

The 5th EHNS Workshop on Head and Neck Robotic Surgery

15-16 March 2024
Fondazione Ferrero Strada di Mezzo, 44 12051 Alba – Italy

Find out more

47th European Society of Lymphology (ESL) Congress

30 May to 1 June 2024

Istanbul Hilton Convention Center, Turkey

Register/Submit your abstract

SIOP 2024 56th Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology
October 17-20, 2024
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Register and submit your abstract

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