The same principles apply to boards of directors, too. During its July 28, 2020, conference call, the ONS Board began setting its 2020–2021 goals and approved the formation of the ONS Board Development Committee to support its professional growth.

2020–2021 Goals

The ONS Board develops goals that carry from one ONS Congress to the next. In July, they shared initial feedback on their draft goals for 2020–2021 that focus on the importance of and ability to accomplish ONS Board work in the current environment. Objectives include increasing ONS Board visibility, developing leaders, and improving diversity, equity, and inclusion. They are collecting additional feedback and will present a final version of the goals at a future ONS Board meeting.

Board Development Committee

The ONS Board also approved the charter for the ONS Board Development Committee, whose purpose is to foster ongoing professional growth for ONS Board members. Future opportunities for development will be built into the Board's in-depth quarterly meetings.

ONS Guidelines™

ONS staff began developing clinical practice guidelines in 2019 to address five cancer treatment-related symptoms: hot flashes, constipation, lymphedema, skin toxicities, and radiodermatitis. The hot flashes guideline published in the July Oncology Nursing Forum (ONF), and the remaining symptom guidelines will release throughout fall 2020. They are free to access for ONS members and nonmembers (after creating a registration account). The ONS Guidelines bundle, published in peer-reviewed journals (ONF and Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing), include: 

• A systematic review that formed the evidence base
• The complete guideline
• A clinical summary of the guideline

Read the full minutes from July 2020 for more details on the decisions the ONS Board of Directors made during the conference call.