ONS Connect - February 2008 - (Page 7) EDiTOr’SNOTE Take Advantage of Opportunities to Help Decrease the Global Cancer Burden [By Debra M. Wujcik, RN, PhD, AOCN®, Editor] I Debra M. Wujcik, RN, PhD, AOCN ®, Editor Each of us has an opportunity to contribute to decreasing the worldwide burden of cancer. n November 2007, more than 230 biomedical and scientific journals joined together in publishing arti cles and research reports addressing the topic of poverty and human devel opment worldwide. ONS’s own journal, Oncology Nursing Forum (ONF), fea tured articles describing the challenges of cancer care in poor and medically underserved populations in the United States and abroad. ONF Editor Rose Mary CarrollJohnson, MN, RN, elo quently challenged us with noblesse oblige, which means that with wealth, power, and prestige come social respon sibilities. This issue of ONS Connect is focused on cancer control in developing coun tries. Contributing Editor Hanan Saca Hazboun, RN, MSN, brings unique insight to the topic. During the aca demic year, Hanan is a lecturer in the faculty of Nursing and Health Science at Bethlehem University in Palestine. Her teaching responsibilities include oncol ogy content, and she knows the chal lenges of cancer care in her country. For the past several summers, Hanan and her family have come to the United States, where she has worked as a traveling nurse. She is familiar with the similarities and differences in knowl edge, practice, and resources between American and Palestinian nurses and is able to bring knowledge and greater understanding to nurses in both coun tries. Hanan interviewed nurses from Ghana and Lebanon for this feature. ONS is embracing the responsibility of sharing the global burden of cancer. The ONS Board of Directors recently approved the ONS International Plan, a series of recommendations to estab lish and expand international activi ties (see p. 21). The ONS Leadership Development Institute made its inter national debut in Ein Gedi, Israel, in December 2007 (see p. 16). Other ONS staff and resources are being allocated for international activities. Each of us has an opportunity to contribute to decreasing the world wide burden of cancer. Increasing our awareness of global issues comes from reading the articles written by interna tional colleagues and seeking out the posters and presentations at Congress and Institutes of Learning. In addition, you may find opportunities at Congress to connect with international delega tions. Friendships can be cultivated through the Internet, and information and resources can be shared as well. Your chapter may want to adopt another country to develop projects of mutual benefit and interest. We hope this issue of ONS Connect will provide some food for thought and stimulate you to consider how you can meet the challenge of noblesse oblige. ✱ February 2008 ONS CONNECT 7
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.