ONS Congress

I got to take a few days off of work this week (wed-fri) and come to New Orleans for the ONS  (Oncology Nursing Society) Congress! This is the first time I have attended something like this, and it was a really neat experience. It started on Thursday, and ended on Sunday morning. They have a huge exhibit hall where all sorts of medical companies have booths and give out info and free stuff. The rest of it is scheduled sessions where there is education in all sorts of areas of oncology nursing. There were so many things to choose from, and I learned soooo much! It was pretty fun to be around so many nurses and to hear about all the new and cutting edge processes, resources, drug updates, trials, research, and ideas for practice improvement. I already started a list of things to work on and implement at my office when I get back :). I tagged along with Sylvia, a work friend from my old floor who is the network oncology educator for Seton, and who has become a mentor for me at my current job. She is really cool. Two of her friends (Cindy and Dawn) also rode with and stayed in the room with us. They do community cancer team stuff and are in charge of a lot of things at Seton. So they were great people to hang out with and to get to know. The three of them have been friends for about 20 years and have worked for Seton for a very long time. They were all so fun to be around, and are kinda crazy :). there were also 3 people from my old floor at Seton, so it was fun to see them and hang out with them for the weekend as well.

One of the cool parts of the weekend was when Sylvia won the award for oncology certified nurse of the year. Pretty cool deal b/c that is nationwide award among all the oncology certified nurses. Here's a picture of our group from the award breakfast.

L-R: Victoria, Me, Sylvia, Dawn, Lisa, Karla, and Cindy

After the conference sessions wrapped up each night, we found some time to see a bit of New Orleans. We walked through the French Quarter (and of course down Bourbon street),  rode a trolley through the Garden district, ate dinner at a local restaurant, and walked the riverwalk along the Mississippi river. Here's a few pictures of the fun.

cool balcony in the french quarter

boat on the mississippi

Fun before the trolley ride

I hope I can start going to more conferences so I can get more continuing education hours (I should end up with around 15 hours after I finish all the evals from the weekend- and I need to have 100 hours in 5 years to keep my certification), and so I can keep learning! I really enjoyed hearing all the ideas and all the great things happening in the world of oncology, but I am ready to get home tomorrow. I miss that sweet husband of mine and our pups! Hope everyone has had a great weekend!