According to Karen Stanley, president of the Oncology Nursing Society, a primary focus of her presidency is increasing the oncology nurse's visibility and ability to "get to the table" where policy decisions are made. She noted that "nursing is very late in documenting nurse-sensitive outcomes and the ONS has committed significant resources to show that outcomes are different when an oncology-certified nurse provides care." She said that this is especially crucial because proposed reductions in government payments to oncology specialty practices have the potential to affect oncology nurses and patients.

The 30th Annual Congress on April 28 in Orlando, Florida drew over 5,600 participants. According to the annual report, the ONS has more than 32,000 members and 220 chapters. For more information, go to http://www.ons.org.

The American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors (ASHPE) recently honored AJN with two awards. A Silver Award was given to August, October, and December 2004 articles in the ongoing "A New Look at the Old" series. And a Bronze Award was given to editor-in-chief Diana J. Mason's February and October 2004 editorials.

FIGURE. Current and future presidents of the ONS, Karen Stanley (left) and Georgia Decker, at the press briefing held at the 30th Annual Congress in Orlando, Florida, on April 28.

The ASHPE honors excellence in health care publications and received a record number of entries in its 2005 competition. All winners can be seen at http://www.ashpe.org.