Special Interest Group Update Darcy Burbage, RN, MSN, AOCN®, CBCN®

The ONS SIG Council Donald Bailey, ONS Board Liaison Darcy Burbage, Chair Rose Ermete Lori McMullen Barbara OwensMeghan Routt Lynette Woide Pat Frank

The SIGs were created. 18 SIGs 1,360 SIG members 1989 Offered 1 SIG membership free with ONS Membership 32 SIGs 11,341 SIG Members 2004 The SIG Council was created 2007 Offered all SIG Memberships with ONS Membership 28 SIGs 27,284 SIG Memberships SIGs 15,536 SIG Members New format for SIGs being developed 2015 The Timeline of the SIGs

Where We Currently Are The SIGs were created to provide additional information and resources relating to a specific interest area. Additional requirements were added over the years: Holding national elections. Publishing a newsletter 3 times a year. Maintaining a Virtual Community. Attending the SIG Leadership Workshop. Submitting topics for Congress sessions. Communicating by with the SIG Membership and SIG Leadership. Holding a planning meeting at Congress. Creating strategic goals that supported the ONS Strategic Plan.

Development of the SIG Task Force SIG Leaders: Darcy Burbage Lori McMullen Board Members: Chip Bailey Anne Ireland Staff: Aaron Borchert Carol DeMarco Michele Dietz Stephanie Jardine Brenda Nevidjon Brian Theil Diane Scheuring The ONS Board asked that a Task Force be created to take an objective look at the SIG structure and propose opportunities to create strong contributions to ONS and ensure sustainability for information sharing. The SIG Task Force Members included: The outcomes developed were then shared with the SIG Council and the SIG Coordinators for additional input and feedback. Outside Facilitators: Peggy Hoffman Peter Houstle

The SIG Task Force Outcomes The SIG Task Force identified some challenges: Limited member engagement and participation. Lack of leadership succession. Inflexible deadlines for reporting. Barriers to creating new SIGs. Inadequate performance metrics. Difficult to create collaborative relationships between SIGs. Challenging virtual community interface. Together, these challenges undermined the potential of the SIGs and their ability to serve their core purpose.

Plans Moving Forward The SIGs will be transitioned to ONS Communities and will allow ONS to: Better hear the member voice. Be the resource for members “at the moment of need”. Create community for members with similar interests. Be inclusive and diverse to enrich the conversation for the benefit of all. Create opportunity to explore emerging issues and ideas. Develop the new generation of leaders.

Ultimate Goals for the Redesign The ONS Communities will be focused on the following: Find my people - Focus on creating connections between members with similar interests. Answer my questions - Serve as a forum for members to ask and answer questions relating to professional and clinical issues. Solve my problems - Create an opportunity for general issues relating to patient care to be discussed and resolved. Teach others - Offer opportunities for experienced nurses to share their experiences to support newer nurses in the oncology nursing field.

Questions We’ve Heard Are the SIGs being dissolved? The SIGs are being reimagined as ONS Communities to make better use of the time and expertise of the ONS Members. Our SIG has developed guidelines and best practices, how will these activities be preserved? ONS will still have ways for nurses to develop programs for others with similar interests. There is also a plan to be able to share files and resources to ensure the free flow of information. How will ONS identify experts? Through the use of the ONS Communities, experts and thought leaders will be identified through participation. We are still working out the details of this part of the program. Other questions? Contact and we’ll get back to