ONS Connect - December 2008 - (Page 21) CApiTOlCONNECTiON Oncology Nurses Take Action for the Inaugural Capitol Gang Lobby Day [By Leslie Greenberg, RN, MSN, OCN ®, ONS Health Policy Manager] O n September 15, eight members of the ONS Capitol Gang went to Capitol Hill to advocate for the Assuring and Improving Cancer Treatment Education and Cancer Symptom Management Act (H.R. 5585). The Capitol Gang is part of ONS’s grass tops leadership: health policy leaders who focus on building quality relationships with policy makers. The members of the Capitol Gang reside in the greater Washington, DC, metropolitan area and volunteer their time and expertise to help support ONS’s health policy and advocacy efforts in the U.S. capitol. We met for a briefing early in the morning to talk about the legislation and how we were going to discuss H.R. 5585 with the Congressional offices. We broke into three groups led by me and the ONS health policy associates and enveloped Capitol Hill to advocate for H.R. 5585, which will provide for Medicare reimbursement for the time that RNs educate people diagnosed with cancer, and their caregivers, about their treatment plans. We met with 14 Congressional offices. Congressional staff received us well, and we had many good conversations about oncology care and the need for patient and caregiver education. In fact, Congress- Leslie Greenberg, RN, MSN, OCN ® man Edolphus Towns (NY-10) decided to support H.R. 5585 two days after our visit, evidence of oncology nurses in action! Through the work of our health policy staff and your work as members, 21 bipartisan members of Congress now support H.R. 5585. The legislation will have to be reintroduced during the next session of Congress, so stay tuned. We will need your continued help to advocate for our patients. ✱ Submit Your Best Entries for the ONS SIG and Chapter Newsletter Awards ONS Special Interest Groups Entries for the ONS Special Interest Group (SIG) Newsletter Best Article Awards are due by January 26, 2009. The articles will be judged based on timeliness, relevance, support of the SIG’s mission, impact on the reader, quality of writing, and readability. SIGs that submit must have produced at least three newsletters in 2008.The first-place winner will receive a one-year ONS membership.The honorable mention winners will receive a one-year SIG membership. Editors of the newsletters in which the winning articles appear will receive recognition certificates. For an application, visit the SIGs Virtual Community, which is accessible via the Membership area of the ONS Web site, or e-mail membership@ons.org. ONS Chapters Entries for the ONS Chapter Newsletter Awards are due by January 30, 2009. Winners from each chapter category—small, medium, and large—will share the $2,000 prize. Newsletters must reflect the chapter’s activities and involvement of chapter members, show creativity in content presentation, and demonstrate quality writing. For consideration, submit four copies of your newsletter to Membership and Leadership Administrative Assistant Judy Stein, ONS, 125 Enterprise Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15275. December 2008 ONS CONNECT 21
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