The ONS budgeting cycle is not unlike what occurs annually at each of our healthcare settings. ONS staff and senior leadership work to develop a budget each year. In March 2017, the ONS Board of Directors met with staff to review the year-end financials for 2016. This review helps us prepare for the treasurer’s presentation during the Business Meeting at the 42nd Annual ONS Congress in Denver in May.  We will meet again in September and October to review and approve the proposed budget for 2018.

You Spoke; We Listened

A review of our financial outcomes in 2016 demonstrated the organization’s ability to keep membership dues the same for 2017. Much of what ONS is focusing on for strategic and budgeting purposes is based on the feedback that we receive from the annual membership surveys.

The ONS national office has also responded to the changing healthcare environment by increasing participation at a national level. Many chapters sent representatives to the ONS Hill Days in September 2016. The feedback from participants was incredibly positive, and ONS will again conduct the event in fall 2017.

Other exciting work ONS has done recently or will conduct in the near future includes the following:

  • Funding an extensive revision of the ONS website to enhance and improve the user experience
  • Launching the new ONS Voice magazine, a new look for the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, and an Oncology Nursing Forum refresh in 2018
  • Launching a new ONS membership database to improve membership data integrity and enable ONS to better support and communicate with individual chapters
  • Updating the communities platform to facilitate connections and conversations on nursing and patient care issues
  • Providing flash sales for additional savings on ONS products and services
  • Continuing to support the Regional Chapter Officer Programs so that Board members and chapter leaders can meet to share ideas and concerns and help shape ONS’s strategic direction
  • Providing free, evidence-based resources such as guidelines and standards, assessment tools to assist with symptom management, and PEP (Putting Evidence into Practice) systematic reviews

As you can see, it has been a dynamic year for ONS, and our members are an important part of shaping future efforts by the organization. I hope to see you all at the ONS Annual Congress Business Meeting in Denver this May.