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Episode 380: Colorectal Cancer Survivorship Considerations for Nurses

Release Date: 09/12/2025

Episode 394: Prostate Cancer Survivorship Considerations for Nurses

The ONS Podcast

“The thought of recurrence is also a psychosocial issue for our patients. They’re being monitored very closely for five years, so there’s always that thought in the back of their head, ‘What if the cancer comes back? What are the next steps? What am I going to do next?’ It’s really important that we have conversations with patients and their families about where they’re at, what we’re looking for, and reassure them that we’ll be with them during this journey and help them through whatever next steps happen,” ONS member Clara Beaver, DNP, RN, AOCNS®, ACNS-BC, manager...

Episode 393: Antibody–Drug Conjugates in Metastatic Breast Cancer

The ONS Podcast

“I’ll go back to the backpack analogy. When your kids come home with a backpack, all of a sudden their homework is not on the desk where it’s supposed to be. It’s in the kitchen; it kind of spreads all over the place, but it’s still in the house. When we give antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), the chemotherapy does go in, but then it can kind of permeate out of the cell membrane and something right next to it—another cancer cell that might not look exactly like the cancer cell that the chemotherapy was delivered into—is affected and the chemotherapy goes over to that cancer cell...

Episode 392: ONS 50th Anniversary: Stories From the Other Side of Cancer

The ONS Podcast

“Working as an oncology infusion nurse, being oncology certified, attending chapter meetings, going to ONS Congress® has really taught me plenty. But being an oncology patient taught me way more. I know firsthand the fears ‘you have cancer’ brings. Then going through further testing, CT scans, MRIs, genetics, the whole preparation for surgery was something I never considered when I treated a breast cancer patient,” ONS member Catherine Parsons, RN, OCN®, told Valerie Burger, MA, MS, RN, OCN®, CPN, member of the ONS 50th anniversary planning committee, during a conversation about...

Episode 391: Pharmacology 101: Antibody–Drug Conjugates

The ONS Podcast

“Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) have three basic parts: the antibody part, the cytotoxic chemo, and the linker that connects the two. First, the antibody part binds to the target on the surface of the cell. Antibodies can be designed to bind to proteins with a very high level of specificity. That’s what gives it the targeted portion. Then the whole thing gets taken up by the cell and broken down, which releases the chemotherapy part. Some sources will call this the ‘payload’ or the ‘warhead.’ That’s the part that’s attached to the ‘heat-seeking’ part, and that’s...

Episode 390: Prostate Cancer Treatment Considerations for Nurses

The ONS Podcast

“Any time the patient hears the word ‘cancer,’ they shut down a little bit, right? They may not hear everything that the oncologist or urologist, or whoever is talking to them about their treatment options, is saying. The oncology nurse is a great person to sit down with the patient and go over the information with them at a level they can understand a little bit more. To go over all the treatment options presented by the physician, and again, make sure that we understand their goals of care,” ONS member Clara Beaver, DNP, RN, AOCNS®, ACNS-BC, manager of clinical education and...

Episode 389: Biomarker Testing for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

The ONS Podcast

“It’s critical to identify those mutations found that are driving the cancer’s growth and guide the personalized treatment based on those results. And important to remember, too, early testing is crucial for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In studies, it has been found to be associated with improved survival outcomes and reduced mortality,” ONS member Vicki Doctor, MS, BSN, BSW, RN, OCN®, precision medicine director at the City of Hope Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, and Phoenix, AZ, locations, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS®, manager of oncology nursing...

Episode 388: ONS 50th Anniversary: Milestones in Oncology Advocacy and Health Policy

The ONS Podcast

“I think we really need to push more of our oncology nurses to get into elected and appointed positions. So often we’re looking at health positions to get involved in, and those are wonderful. We need nurses as secretaries of health, but there are others. We as nurses understand higher education. We understand environment. We understand energy. So I think we look broadly at, what are positions we can get in? Let’s have more nurses run for state legislative offices, for our House of Representatives, for the U.S. Senate,” ONS member Barbara Damron, PhD, LHD, RN, FAAN, told Ryne Wilson,...

Episode 387: Prostate Cancer Screening, Early Detection, and Disparities

The ONS Podcast

“[When] a lot of men think about prostate exams, they immediately think of the glove going on the hand of the physician, and they immediately clench. But really try to talk with them and discuss with them what some of the benefits are of understanding early detection. Even just having those conversations with their providers so that they understand what the risk and benefits are of having screening. And then educate patients on what a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal exam (DRE) actually are—how it happens, what it shows, and what the necessary benefits of those are,”...

Episode 386: Interprofessional Navigation and the Oral Anticancer Medication Care Compass

The ONS Podcast

“This was a panel of subject matter experts of various nurses and pharmacists. We often found common ground but also discovered new ideas, different touchpoints, and key junctures along that oral anticancer medication journey. For example, the pharmacists were able to share their insights into their unique workflows within their practice setting. What resulted is a resource that truly reflects that collaborative effort between the disciplines,” ONS member Mary Anderson, BSN, RN, OCN®, senior manager of nursing membership and professional development at the Network for Collaborative...

Episode 385: ONS 50th Anniversary: Evolution of Cancer Survivorship

The ONS Podcast

“It started out by doing a kind of a white paper that we called Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care. Ellen Stovall, our CEO [of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship] at the time, gave this report to Dr. Richard Klausner, who was the head of National Cancer Institute at the time. He called Ellen immediately and said, ‘Why are we not doing something about this?’ Within one year, we had the Office of Cancer Survivorship at NCI,” ONS member Susan Leigh, BSN, RN, told ONS member Ruth Van Gerpen, MS, RN-BC, APRN-CNS, AOCNS®, PMGT-BC, member of the ONS 50th anniversary...

More Episodes

“One powerful, overlooked aspect of colorectal cancer survivorship is the emotional and identity transformation that our survivors undergo—and really how little space is given in the clinical arena for that. No one really talks about this ‘invisible recovery.’ Facing mortality can lead to prolonged changes in values, relationships, and life goals. And these experiences aren’t captured in lab results or imaging scans, but they really shape how survivors live, love, and heal and continue with their lives,” ONS member Kris Mathey, DNP, APRN-CNP, AOCNP^®, gastrointestinal medical oncology nurse practitioner at The James Cancer Hospital of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BS, AOCNS^®, manager of oncology nursing practice at ONS, during a conversation about colorectal cancer survivorship.

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 September 12, 2026. 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: Learner will report an increase is knowledge related to colorectal cancer survivorship nursing considerations.

Episode Notes

Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.
ONS Podcast™ episodes:

ONS Voice articles:

ONS course: Essentials in Survivorship Care for the Advanced Practice Provider
Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Closing the Gaps: Addressing the Unmet Needs of Cancer Survivors
Oncology Nursing Forum articles:

ONS Survivorship Care Plan Huddle Card
ONS Learning Libraries:

Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators
American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable
Colorectal Cancer Alliance
Colorectal Cancer Resource and Action Network
Fight Colorectal Cancer

Resource Library

Livestrong at the YMCA
Pan Ohio Hope Ride

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

“As of the most recent data, more than 1.5 million people in the United States are living as colorectal cancer survivors. So this includes not only those who are currently undergoing active cancer treatment but also those who have completed treatment and ultimately are hopefully in remission. Just a reminder that colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States and it’s the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths.” TS 1:53

“Our colorectal cancer survivors may have significant barriers when receiving this comprehensive survivorship care, and these challenges can affect not only their physical recovery but their emotional well-being and, ultimately, their long-term health outcomes. We as oncology nurses do play a pivotal role in identifying and addressing these barriers. So these can include fragmented care. Who’s caring for these patients? That care coordination between the oncologist and the oncology team and then the primary care providers and team. Limited access—so our patients that may have geographic limited access or also financial- or insurance-related obstacles to follow-up services.” TS 9:10

“Our nurses can also facilitate the communication between specialists and primary care providers, so making sure that we’re sending records, keeping those lines of communications open. Also, nurses can provide that psychosocial support, so our screening for distress and also advocating and supporting for referral to counseling or support groups for a patient. Nurses can also act as navigators to guide these patients through complex care systems.” TS 11:21

“Some of the recommended changes—nutrition—enhancing and emphasizing fruits, vegetables, that colorful plate, with whole grains. Limit those red and processed meats, and reduce sugary drinks and alcohol. I know we will all have those patients who have read things or cancer myths about, ‘Oh, cancer feeds on sugar, so I shouldn’t drink anything or eat anything with sugar,’ and maybe addressing that, just really emphasizing the well-rounded meals.” TS 19:57

“When we think about [ourselves], ‘Well, I don’t have an implicit bias,’ but we may not think about what that is. Some common preconceived assumptions are that survivorship equals a cure. And this assumption may overlook that chronic symptoms or those late effects and emotional needs of long-term survivors. So knowing that when a patient is coming to us on surveillance, they may be cured; they may not have active cancer, but they’re still dealing with some of those chronic symptoms—and acknowledging that.” TS 30:37

“There’s an assumption that an ostomy equals poor quality of life, and this may stigmatize patients and discourage open conversations about adaptation and support. A couple weeks ago, I volunteered at the Pan Ohio Hope Ride, which is with the American Cancer Society, and several states have a ride that’s similar. And there was a patient riding, and I could tell over his jersey that he had an ostomy bag underneath that. And I just looked at him and I thought, ‘That’s amazing. You are still functioning, still living, still riding a bike throughout the entire state of Ohio with an ostomy.’ So he’s still having that good quality of life. That doesn’t stop him from living.” TS 31:39

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