Episode 367: Pharmacology 101: PARP Inhibitors
The ONS Podcast
Episode 367: Pharmacology 101: PARP Inhibitors “We know that in cells that are proliferating very quickly, including cancer cells, single-strand DNA breaks are very common. When that happens, these breaks are often repaired by the PARP enzyme, and the cells can continue their replication process. If we block PARP, that repair cannot happen. So in blocking that, these single-strand breaks then lead to double-strand breaks, which ultimately is leading to cell apoptosis,” Danielle Roman, PharmD, BCOP, manager of clinical pharmacy services at the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in...
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Episode 366: ONS 50th Anniversary: Generations of Nurses Keep Oncology in the Family
The ONS Podcast
“[My mom] would always be very inspirational whenever I would see her studying so long. And when she finally got to be a nurse, I always admired her vocation and compassion with her patients. She would always go above and beyond for all of her patients. I also got inspired a lot by my brother, as well, just seeing how passionate he was for caring for his patients for the families as well, and helping them deal with the any grief or loss that they were experiencing, Carolina Rios, MSN, RN, CPhT, told Valerie Burger, RN, MA, MS, OCN®, CPN, member of the ONS 50th anniversary planning...
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Episode 365: Radiation-Associated Secondary Cancers
The ONS Podcast
“From a radiation standpoint, the biggest thing we’re looking at is the treatment site, the dosage, and the way the radiation has been delivered. There are different ways that we can focus radiation using methods such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, flattening radiation beams, and proton beam therapy to try to help minimize radiation exposure to healthy tissues to minimize patient risk for secondary cancers,” ONS member Andrea Matsumoto, DNP, AGACNP-BC, AOCNP®, radiation oncology nurse practitioner at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, MI, told Jaime...
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Episode 364: How to Prepare for a Nursing Examination
The ONS Podcast
“Everyone will probably say this, but it is so true. Do not cram the night before the exam. The most important thing the night before the exam is to get a good night’s sleep. You might be so nervous. You’re like, ‘I can get any new information that matters right before the exam,’ but you can’t. Any information that you know you will have gotten in the time that you spent studying already. Really, you have to trust yourself,” Talia Lapidus, BSN, RN, professional staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS,...
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Episode 363: Lung Cancer Treatment Considerations for Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“A lot of other disease sites, they have some targeted therapies, they have some immunotherapies [IO]. In lung cancer, we have it all. We have chemo. We have IO. We have targeted therapies. We have bispecific T-cell engagers. We have orals, IVs. I think it’s just so important now that, particularly for lung cancer, you have to be well versed on all of these,” ONS member Beth Sandy, MSN, CRNP, thoracic medical oncology nurse practitioner at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology...
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Episode 362: Pharmacology 101: MET Inhibitors
The ONS Podcast
“The signaling and that binding of the MET and the HGF help, in a downstream way, lead to cell proliferation, cell motility, survival, angiogenesis, and also invasion—so all of those key cancer hallmarks. And because of it being on an epithelial cell, it’s a really good marker because it’s found in many, many different types of cancers, so it makes it what we call kind of a nice actionable mutation,” ONS member Marianne Davies, DNP, ACNP, AOCNP®, FAAN, senior oncology nurse practitioner at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center in New Haven, CT, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS,...
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Episode 361: ONS 50th Anniversary: The Value of ONS Membership in Advancing the Oncology Nursing Profession
The ONS Podcast
“We spent time today discussing all the ways that owners can have a positive impact on career growth, whether you’re a bedside nurse or just in teaching, research, hospital leadership. More than career growth, I see ONS as kind of a barrier to burnout and a catalyst for professional self-care. I think that no matter what aspect of oncology care you’re involved in, it is a difficult and complex specialty. And I think with that can come a lot of challenges and tough days, and ONS brings a sense of community to that and, specifically, a community that is pushing cancer care forward,”...
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Episode 360: An Overview of Brain Malignancies for Oncology Nurses
The ONS Podcast
“Everyone’s brain is extremely heterogenic, so it’s different. You can put five of us in a room; we can all have the same diagnosis of a [glioblastoma multiforme], but all of ours can be different. They’re highly aggressive biologically. It’s a small area in a hard shell. So trying to get through the blood–brain barrier is different. There’s a lot of areas of hypoxia in the brain. There’s a lot of pressure there. The microbiology is very different—it’s a cold environment versus a hot environment—and then the pathways are just different,” Lori Cappello, MSN, APN-C,...
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Episode 359: Lung Cancer Screening, Early Detection, and Disparities
The ONS Podcast
Episode 359: Lung Cancer Screening, Early Detection, and Disparities “I was actually speaking to a primary care audience back a few weeks ago, and we were talking about lung cancer screening. And they said, ‘Our patients, they don’t want to do it.’ And I said, ‘Do you remind them that lung cancer is curable?’ Because everybody thinks it is a death sentence. But when you’re talking about screening a patient, I think it’s really important to say, ‘Listen, if we find this early, stage I or stage II, our chances of curing this and it never coming back again is upwards of 60%...
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Episode 358: Pharmacology 101: KRAS Inhibitors
The ONS Podcast
“It’s been known for quite a while that [KRAS] is a mutation that leads to cancer development, but for really over four decades, researchers couldn’t figure out a way to target it. And so, it was often considered something that was undruggable. But all of this changed recently. So about four years ago, in 2021, we had the approval of the first KRAS inhibitor. So it’s specifically a KRAS G12C inhibitor known as sotorasib,” Danielle Roman, PharmD, BCOP, manager of clinical pharmacy services at the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute in Pittsburgh, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN,...
info_outline“Everyone will probably say this, but it is so true. Do not cram the night before the exam. The most important thing the night before the exam is to get a good night’s sleep. You might be so nervous. You’re like, ‘I can get any new information that matters right before the exam,’ but you can’t. Any information that you know you will have gotten in the time that you spent studying already. Really, you have to trust yourself,” Talia Lapidus, BSN, RN, professional staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about preparing for the NCLEX.
Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0
Episode Notes
- This episode is not eligible for NCPD.
- ONS Podcast™ episodes:
- Episode 85: Nursing Resilience and Self-Care Aren’t Optional
- Episode 27: How Self-Care Can Impact Your Nursing Practice
- ONS Voice articles:
- OCN® Certification Test-Taking Tips to Ease Your Anxiety
- Find Your Balance Between Work, Life, and School
- Practice These Five Self-Care Strategies in Less Than Five Minutes
- ONCC Certification Exam Resources:
- ONS books:
- BMTCN® Certification Review Manual (second edition)
- Breast Care Certification Review (second edition)
- Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (seventh edition)
- Study Guide for the Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing (seventh edition)
- ONS course: OCN® Certification Review Bundle
- ONS Wellness Breaks
- Joint Position Statement From ONS and ONCC: Oncology Certification for Nurses
- ONS Nurse Well-Being Learning Library
- Oncology Nursing Foundation Resiliency Resources
- NCLEX (National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s licensure exam)
- UWorld
- Quizlet
- Cleveland Clinic article: How Box Breathing Can Help You Destress
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 [email protected].
Highlights From This Episode
“The biggest studying tip that I found when I was studying was just consistency. I was studying every day, and I was setting time aside every single day to study. It’s really just about making sure that it’s part of your daily routine. At first it feels weird, like going from school to just straight up studying. But that’s really what school was for—finding a study method that works for you, that you can then implement into studying for the biggest test that you have to take.” TS 1:52
“Practice questions are everything. You mentioned already that the NCLEX questions are formulated in a very specific way. And I know some schools do all their exams in NCLEX style, but some schools don’t, so some people might not know how the NCLEX formulates their questions. A lot of the time it’s like you have to pick the most correct out of a lot of correct answers. And if you don’t have practice critically thinking about how to answer these questions, you might get tripped up. So practicing these questions, knowing what the test will be like, is so important.” TS 6:46
“Time management is the best thing that you can do. When I was working, I still had goals for myself for studying, even if it was just study this topic today or do 10 practice questions today. Anything that you’re doing is better than nothing. So if you have to color-code your life and, in Google Calendar, have two hours to work, two hours to study, or eat lunch from 12 to 1, and then from 1 to 2, you study. Anything that you have to do to make sure that you get at least a little bit of studying in matters.” TS 9:05
“You don’t have to be studying 24/7. You have a life outside of the exam, and you should still live it. You should still see your friends, and you should still go out to eat. Do things that make you feel good because if you are not in your best headspace, you won’t be able to study appropriately.” TS 18:50