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The ONS Podcast

The ONS Podcast

By: Oncology Nursing Society
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Where ONS Voices Talk Cancer Join oncology nurses on the Oncology Nursing Society's award-winning podcast as they sit down to discuss the topics important to nursing practice and treating patients with cancer. ISSN 2998-2308Copyright 2025 Hygiene & Healthy Living Physical Illness & Disease
Episodes
  • Episode 410: The Evidence for the Environment's Impact on Cancer Outcomes

    Episode 410: The Evidence for the Environment's Impact on Cancer Outcomes
    Apr 10 2026
    "Cancer and environmental disasters in particular, but the worsening of our environment, are really things that are great equalizers. And we recognize that we're all kind of in this world together. We can really face these issues on a more human level. I think always recognizing that if we look at something, we think, 'Well, that doesn't relate to me or that problem is it really isn't my problem'—it sure is," ONS member Margaret "Peggy" Rosenzweig, PhD, CRNP-C, AOCNP®, FAAN, ONS scholar-in-residence and distinguished service professor of nursing and Nancy Glunt Hoffman Chair in Oncology Nursing at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing in Pennsylvania told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about the effects of the environment on cancer care and outcomes. 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 April 10, 2027. 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: Nurses caring for people with cancer require knowledge to recognize and address how environmental factors influence cancer care delivery, patient outcomes, and workforce resilience. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 190: The Environment, Cancer, and Nurses' Role in Advocating for Climate Change Episode 107: Social Determinants Lead to Unequal Access to Health Care ONS Voice articles: Most Oncology Nurses Want to Address Climate Change but Don't Know How to Start Here's How the Environment Affects Cancer Care—and What Oncology Nurses Can Do About It Climate Change Is Contributing to the Cancer Burden, and Nurses Must Take Action Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Oncology Nurses' Awareness, Concern, Motivations, and Behaviors Related to Climate Change and Health Environmental Risk Factors: The Role of Oncology Nurses in Assessing and Reducing the Risk for Exposure Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Research Priorities of the Oncology Nursing Society: 2024–2027 The Impact of Climate Change Across the Cancer Control Continuum: Key Considerations for Oncology Nurses (ONS white paper) ONS Huddle Card: Environmental Health and Climate Change ONS Congress® session: The Impact of Climate Change on Patient Care Supportive Care in Cancer article: Climate Disasters and Oncology Care: A Systematic Review of Effects on Patients, Healthcare Professionals, and Health Systems What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson The Cancer–Climate Connection: Environmental Drivers of Cancer in the Climate Era (webinar by AnnMarie L. Walton) To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode "The process of establishing these research priorities usually happens every three or so years. And there's a lot of preliminary work of talking to multiple parties of interest regarding what they believe the research priorities are, what nurses are seeing in clinics and in the community, and really multiple opinions regarding where the direction of research for ONS should go. And we heard this time—loud and clear—from researchers, from nurses in clinics and in communities, from scholars, and multiple other interested parties, that the environment in a very broad context was very much a concern and specifically a concern for impact on cancer care delivery, quality, and outcomes." TS 1:49 "You can take some cancer outcome data and you can take patient data related to home address or zip code or even larger geographic areas and kind of do correlational studies to see 'Does one impact the other?' … There's been a lot of those in the literature. But they are very helpful because they're starting to define this idea that beyond the idea of just demographics—gender, age, race—that the whole concept of neighborhood and the influences of the neighborhood do impact cancer outcomes. And that's where we're seeing the sort of explosion in literature across multiple malignancies, stages of cancer, and across multiple questions—specific kinds of outcomes, everything from quality of life to tumor progression." TS 8:43 "There is growing literature around how cancer delivery can be better prepared for climate-related disasters. … There's a good article ...
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    42 mins
  • Episode 409: An Overview of Interventional Oncology for Nurses

    Episode 409: An Overview of Interventional Oncology for Nurses
    Apr 3 2026
    "Interventional oncology has really evolved into an important component of modern cancer care and is often described now as the fourth pillar alongside medical, surgical, and radiation oncology. The specialty now encompasses a broad spectrum of image-guided procedures that support from cancer diagnosis, treatment, to effectively managing symptoms that are caused by the disease. In other words, what we're seeing is that across the continuum of care, IO is playing a vital role," ONS member Evelyn P. Wempe, DNP, MBA, APRN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP®, CRN, NEA-BC, executive director for advanced practice providers for the oncology service line at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Florida, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about interventional oncology. 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 April 3, 2027. 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 interventional oncology as a treatment modality for cancer. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 347: Care Considerations for Radiopharmaceuticals and Theranostics in Patients With Cancer Episode 285: Transarterial Chemoembolization: The Oncology Nurse's Role ONS Voice articles: Advancements in Interventional Oncology Ease Pain and Limit Opioid Use Build Your Confidence in Understanding Vascular IO Procedures From Heat to Cold to Electrical Pulses, Here's How Percutaneous IO Can Preserve Life and Function Interventional Oncology Is an Evolving Subspecialty for Oncology Nurses Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Interventional Oncology (December 2025 supplement) Expanding the Scope: The Emergence of Interventional Oncology Nursing The Evolution of Interventional Oncology and the Specialized Role of Oncology Nursing Interventional Oncology Learning Library Interventional Oncology Huddle Card Society of Interventional Oncology Association for Radiologic and Imaging Nursing Society of Interventional Radiology: Cancer resources RadiologyInfo.org (Radiological Society of North America) To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode "In the 1990s, tumor-focused procedures such as embolization and ablation began to emerge, marking a shift toward oncologic applications. The 2000s saw rapid technologic advancements that expanded the scope and volume of oncology-directed interventions, including vascular access device placement, liver-directed transcatheter therapies for tumor control, and more sophisticated ablation modalities. Today, interventional oncology, or IO, extends beyond procedural work, encompassing comprehensive clinical care through dedicated IO clinics that support patient consultations, treatment planning, and postprocedure follow-up." TS 1:50 "In the immediate postprocedure phase, the IO nurse plays a critical role in patient safety in education, and oftentimes it may not be the same nurse that's caring for the patient in the procedural environment versus the postprocedural environment. But the role is really about continuous need to assess the patient's comfort level, to ensure that there is hemodynamic stability of the patient while closely monitoring for complications such as bleeding at the access site—of course, depending on the procedure—if there's any hematoma formation or changes in vital signs, or if there's any pain that needs to be addressed. Most importantly is maintaining patient safety in that immediate phase after the procedure." TS 8:07 "Before an IO procedure, both teams really must review the patient's clinical status. There has to be a clear understanding of: Is this patient ready to undergo a procedure? Is there any necessary imaging that needs to be done, as well as laboratory review and any systemic treatments, that may affect procedural planning? And oftentimes, in my experience, really, the oncology nurses are the ones really speaking with each other based on what the decision has been from both teams working together and communicating this to the patient." TS 13:49 "I think the oncology nurse needs to assess the...
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    30 mins
  • Episode 408: Radiation Site-Specific Side Effects: Breast Cancer

    Episode 408: Radiation Site-Specific Side Effects: Breast Cancer
    Mar 27 2026
    "A side effect patients might experience is lymphedema. This is an increased buildup of lymphatic fluid in the tissues, either in the breast or in the arm and hand of the affected side. It's quite problematic for women. They might feel self-conscious. It might feel uncomfortable that the arm feels like it's throbbing or heavy. Clothing may not fit quite right. So we're always on the lookout for lymphedema," Maria Fenton-Kerimian, APRN, AOCNP®, nurse practitioner at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about radiation site-specific side effects in breast 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 March 27, 2027. 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 side effects experienced with radiation therapy to the breast. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast™ episodes: Episode 368: Best Practices for Challenging Patient Conversations in Metastatic Breast Cancer Episode 354: Breast Cancer Survivorship Considerations for Nurses Episode 301: Radiation Oncology: Side Effect and Care Coordination Best Practices Episode 298: Radiation Oncology: Nursing's Essential Roles Episode 194: Sex Is a Component of Patient-Centered Care ONS Voice articles: Could High-Dose Radiation Be the Missing Link in Breast Cancer Immunotherapy? Exercise Program Improves Quality of Life in Patients With Breast Cancer—and Keeps Them Moving Daily Frank Conversations Enhance Sexual and Reproductive Health Support During Cancer How to Handle Even the Worst Radiation Therapy Side Effects Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: Instruments to Evaluate Self-Management of Radiation Dermatitis in Patients With Breast Cancer The Effects of a Clinical Care Model on Quality Process Outcomes in Radiation Oncology Oncology Nursing Forum articles: Feasibility of Breast Radiation Therapy Video Education Combined With Standard Radiation Therapy Education for Patients With Breast Cancer ONS Guidelines™ for Cancer Treatment–Related Radiodermatitis ONS books: Guide to Breast Care for Oncology Nurses Manual for Radiation Oncology Nursing Practice and Education (fifth edition) ONS/ONCC® courses: Radiation Oncology Conference Recordings Bundle™ Radiation Therapy Certificate™ ONS Huddle Cards: Altered Body Image Late Effects of Cancer Treatment Radiation Sexuality ONS Guidelines™: Cancer Treatment–Related Lymphedema Cancer Treatment–Related Radiodermatitis ONS Learning Libraries: Breast CancerRadiation American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)National Comprehensive Cancer Network home page To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode "The goals of radiation to the breast are typically broken out into three different rationales. Either adjuvant treatment, where the tumor is removed surgically from the breast first and then radiation is delivered to lower the likelihood of return of the cancer. And then the second way it's given is with a curative intent. That may be for tumors that couldn't be fully resected, and the hope is to eradicate the tumor that is still present in the tissue. Lastly, it can be given in a palliative fashion where you're not expecting to completely cure the person of the cancer, but you hope to shrink the tumor enough to relieve symptoms." TS 1:46 "We really try to focus on patients managing fatigue by ensuring that they're having an appropriate, balanced diet with proper macro and micronutrients and that they're having adequate protein intake. We encourage patients to get adequate sleep. There is a culture of people pushing themselves and working into late hours of the night, and this would be quite difficult if you're experiencing radiation-induced fatigue. If someone is familiar and does regular exercise, we highly encourage them to continue that. If someone has not done much exercise and has slipped into a little bit of deconditioning or they're older or more frail, we might refer them for physical therapy or strength training to rebuild some of that stamina and energy." TS 7:56 "One of the key products to use for ...
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    34 mins
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awesome job overall! very good content, very informative. covers a wide verity of subjects.

awesome job!

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I found this Podcast by accident. I'm only 2 episodes in, and I'm hooked!
So awesome.

Love this!!

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