ONS Member Receives ASCO Award for Transforming Cancer Palliative Care

“I am very honored to receive this recognition from ASCO,” Ferrell said. “As an oncology nurse researcher, I have seen important progress in palliative care for patients with cancer. This award honors all clinicians who provide this essential care.”

Ferrell is the principal investigator (https://www.cityofhope.org/people/ferrell-betty) for the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium and serves as the principal investigator on a National Cancer Institute–funded grant to train oncology advanced practice nurses in palliative care. In 2019, she was elected as a fellow in the National Academy of Medicine (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/ons-member-ferrell-elected-to-national-academy-of-medicine).

Her work since 1996 has focused on (https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/38875309_Betty_Ferrell) spirituality, palliative care, quality of life, pain management, interprofessional education, and end-of-life care. The Oncology Nursing Foundation awarded Ferrell a total of $49,000 in grant funding from 2004–2006 for research on quality of life in ovarian cancer survivors.

She published more than 450 articles in peer-reviewed and National Library of Medicine-approved medical journals and forums, including four articles in the Clinical Journal of Oncology (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Clinical%20journal%20of%20oncology%20nursing%22%5BJour%5D%20AND%20Ferrell%5Bfirst%20author%5D&cmd=detailssearch) Nursing and 29 in the Oncology Nursing Forum (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Oncology%20nursing%20forum%22%5BJour%5D%20AND%20ferrell%5Bfirst%20author%5D&cmd=detailssearch). She authored 11 books and contributed as a chapter author to several ONS books, most recently Psychosocial Nursing Care Along the Cancer Continuum (https://www.ons.org/books/psychosocial-nursing-care-along-cancer-continuum-third-edition) (third edition) and Cancer Survivorship: Interprofessional, Patient-Centered Approaches to the Seasons of Survival (https://www.ons.org/books/cancer-survivorship-interprofessional-patient-centered-approaches-seasons-survival).

Ferrell was ONS’s 2011 Mara Mogensen Flaherty lecturer (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/ons-member-ferrell-elected-to-national-academy-of-medicine) and presented on the psychosocial aspects of end-of-life care for patients with cancer. She was also the recipient of the Foundation’s 2012 Friend of the Foundation award and ONS’s 2014 Excellence in Writing for Quantitative Nursing Research, 2004 Excellence in Supportive Care, and 1996 Distinguished Researcher awards.

"For decades Dr. Ferrell has improved the lives of patients through advancing the expertise of nurses across the world," ONS Chief Executive Officer Brenda Nevidjon, MSN, RN, FAAN, said. "This well-deserved award and lecture recognize her many enduring contributions to supportive and palliative care in oncology. We congratulate her on this accomplishment and so many that have come before." 

ONS is a professional association of more than 35,000 members committed to promoting excellence in oncology nursing and the transformation of cancer care. Since 1975, ONS has provided a professional community for oncology nurses, developed evidence-based education programs and treatment information, and advocated for patient care, all in an effort to improve quality of life and outcomes for patients with cancer and their families. Learn more at www.ons.org (http://www.ons.org).

Media Contact: Nicole Lininger
nlininger@ons.org (mailto:nlininger@ons.org)