[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4255-S4256]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ONCOLOGY NURSING DAY AND MONTH

 Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
oncology nurses. May 1 marks the beginning of the 10th annual Oncology 
Nursing Day and Month and this year marks the 30th Anniversary of the 
Oncology Nursing Society.
  As co-chair of the Senate Cancer Coalition, I know oncology nurses 
play an important and essential role in providing quality cancer care. 
These nurses are principally involved in the administration and 
monitoring of chemotherapy and the associated side effects patients 
experience. As anyone ever treated for cancer will tell you, oncology 
nurses are intelligent, well-trained, highly skilled, kind-hearted 
angels who provide quality clinical, psychosocial, and supportive care 
to patients and their families. In short, they are integral to our 
Nation's cancer care delivery system.
  I congratulate the Oncology Nursing Society, ONS, on its 30th 
anniversary. ONS is the largest organization of oncology health 
professionals in the world, with more than 31,000 registered nurses and 
other health care professionals. Since 1975, ONS has been dedicated to 
excellence in patient care, teaching, research, administration, and 
education in the field of oncology. The society's mission is to promote 
excellence in oncology nursing and quality cancer care. To that end, 
ONS honors and maintains nursing's historical and essential commitment 
to advocate for the public good by providing nurses and health care 
professionals with access to the highest quality educational programs, 
cancer-care resources, research opportunities and networks for peer 
support. ONS has three chapters in my home State of Kansas, which help 
oncology nurses provide high-quality cancer care to patients and their 
families in our State.
  Cancer is a complex, multifaceted, and chronic disease, and people 
with cancer are best served by a multidisciplinary health care team 
specialized in oncology care, including nurses who are certified in 
that specialty. Each year, in the United States, approximately 1.37 
million people are diagnosed with cancer, another 570,000 lose their 
battles with this terrible disease, and more than 8 million Americans 
count themselves among a growing community known as cancer survivors. 
Every day, oncology nurses see the pain and suffering caused by cancer 
and understand the physical, emotional, and financial challenges that 
people with cancer face throughout their diagnosis and treatment.
  Over the last 10 years, the setting where treatment for cancer is 
provided has changed dramatically. An estimated 80 percent of all 
cancer patients receive care in community settings, including cancer 
centers, physicians' offices, and hospital outpatient departments. 
Treatment regimens are as complex, if not more so, than regimens

[[Page S4256]]

given in the inpatient setting a few short years ago. Oncology nurses 
are involved in the care of a cancer patient from the beginning through 
the end of treatment, and they are the front line providers of care by 
administering chemotherapy, managing patient therapies and side 
effects, working with insurance companies to ensure that patients 
receive the appropriate treatment, provide counseling to patients and 
family members, in addition to many other daily acts on behalf of 
cancer patients.
  I thank all oncology nurses for their dedication to our Nation's 
cancer patients, and commend the Oncology Nursing Society for all of 
its efforts and leadership over the last 30 years. They have 
contributed immensely to the quality and accessibility of care for all 
cancer patients and their families, and I urge my colleagues to support 
them in their important endeavors.

                          ____________________