I’ve had my fair share of stale PowerPoint presentations. Trust me, I’ve given many of them, too. I find the presentations I enjoy the most have clean aesthetics, minimal text, and provide opportunities for storytelling. Considering I like those things in presentations, I choose to present this way, as well.
I had the lovely opportunity to speak on behalf of the Nurse Oncology Education Program to a group of nurses and nurse faculty at the beautiful Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth on Saturday. One presentation was directed for faculty on how to make oncology content “stick” in undergraduate curricula, something I’ve grown passionate about as a result of working with faculty over several years. The second presentation was about colorectal cancer screening.
Both topics can be rather dull, so I try to make the content come alive in any way possible – mostly with stories, vocal tone, and creative PowerPoint backgrounds. In preparation for the presentation, I couldn’t find any background I really liked, so I just made my own with simple shapes, lines, transparency settings, and colors. One of the nursing faculty members asked for the templates, so I thought I’d share, share, share in true Nursetopia fashion.
You can download the “Notepad & Tape” PowerPoint template here and the “Screen” PowerPoint template here. (Any large, unused space likely included a picture.) Enjoy!
“Simple” and “easy” are two very different concepts that people often mistakenly use interchangeably. Remaining poised in difficult times is a simple thought; it is by no means easy.
A recent Minute with Maxwell coaching video reminded me that poise is important. “Keep steady.” Oh, how I needed that one minute this week. Now for the “simple” application…oh my.
The countdown to the 38th ONS Congress is rapidly coming to an end. As Chair of the Congress Planning Team, I’ve been looking forward to this conference for over a year now, and it’s really nice to see the collective work of numerous people come to fruition.
For the first time, ONS is live-streaming three of the signature Congress sessions – the New Drug Update on Thursday, April 25, from 4:00 – 5:30 PM (Eastern Time); the Mara Mogensen Flaherty Lecture - The Patient’s Voice: Are We Hard of Hearing? - on Saturday, April 27, from 8:30 – 10:00 AM; and the ONS Clinical Lecture - Effective Symptom Management to Optimize Care with Oral Cancer - on Saturday, April 27, from 4:00 – 5:30 PM.
To view the cornerstone lectures, simply visit the live streaming area at the time of the lecture, and enjoy – free of charge! Seriously, these lectures will be well-worth your time. I look forward to each of these annual sessions, which are different each year, but hands down – my all-time top Congress moment each year is the “Mara Lecture.” It has literally changed my nursing practice annually in some shape or form. That’s saying something year after year! And, the New Drug Update session will help all nurses and healthcare professionals – not only oncology specialized ones – to remain current on recently approved medications as well as glean helpful tips to differentiate all of the targeted therapies.
Be sure to join in on the back-channel ONS Congress conversations on Twitter via #ONSCongress.
Researchers at Northwestern University would like to talk with adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors about their experiences with thinking about whether or how to have a family.
Cancer survivors eligible include those:
Diagnosed after age 16
Who have ever been open to having or adopting children after diagnosis (regardless of whether or not they have children now)
Who are male and of all sexual orientations including straight, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or other.
This is a one-time phone interview, and is expected to last about 45 minutes to an hour. After the interview, participants will receive a $20 gift card as a small token of appreciation. Please see the complete recruitment flyer for all details, including study contact information.
Please share this information to help researchers and the cancer community at-large understand the impact of treatment on family planning among young men surviving cancer!
Two of my three kiddos are battling influenza type A, one with a bonus of strep throat and the other with the added joy of pink eye. Needless to say, my home is one giant petri dish at the moment. Strict routine hand-washing and disinfectant wipes are the norm today. It’s made for lots of lying around and cuddling, which means mommy can still be productive while catching up on the ole RSS reader. It made me happy in the midst of body fluids, whines, and supportive medication administration. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve read lately:
If you’re not following these blogs/sites, consider adding them to your RSS reader now. You just might need a plethora of reading material at the tips of your fingers.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) emailed a reminder to NCI Cancer Bulletin readers stating the longtime electronic periodical is ceasing publication due to budget changes. All previous Bulletins will remain archived for reference.
The NCI Cancer Bulletin has been a favorite of mine for several years, chock full of current research and hot topics within the oncology profession. It’s now moving to a more social-sharing information model, so be sure to connect with NCI on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
It was bound to happen. So long, NCI Cancer Bulletin; so long.
I subscribe to a lot of “daily” emails chock full of news, stories, and yes, even cartoons art. There are two emails that I look forward to currently – one from StoryPeople that contains whimsical drawings accompanied with inspiring and thoughtful narrative, and the other “A Minute with Maxwell,” a one-minute leadership/coaching video focusing on a different topic each day. Yes, they are juxtaposed, but they definitely complement one another.
Daily emails can get annoying if you don’t utilize them and only end up deleting them each day; they can become like spam if you’re not attentive to them.
Do you subscribe to daily emails? What are the ones you look forward to each day? Which ones bring value to your life?
According to the Institute of Medicine, “health literacy” is more than just being able to read; it is “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.”
Health professionals – even myself – speak a completely different language than the rest of the world. Yet, we’re shocked most of the time when patients don’t understand what we’re saying. We expect people to somehow know “PO” means by mouth, or we keep our processes the same – like keeping prescription bottle labels in one language even when we know a patient may not be proficient in that language. Heck, deciphering a prescription medication label is difficult for people (smart people) who speak English.
I found this out the hard way when my husband misread a medication label for one of our children. The instructions just didn’t compute, and I had to re-educate him. Now, my husband is educated, thoughtful, and a good communicator. With three children, we should have an in-home med cart at times; he gives our kids medicine just as much – if not more – than I do. He’s familiar with teaspoons and tablespoons. To me, the label was perfectly clear, but not so to him. Thankfully, the kiddo was under-dosed, and there was no safety concern.
It happened in my home. I guarantee low health literacy is much more prevalent than you think. You can easily assess health literacy and patient understanding via the Teach Back Method. Give it a try this week and see how your patients do – how well they understand what you’re telling them. It’s shocking.
Considering health literacy is the strongest indicator of a person’s health – stronger than age, income, employment status, education level, and race – and nearly 88% of the population with less-than-proficient health literacy, we must do better. Nurses can make a tremendous impact with patients and health literacy. Many states and organizations are working on this complexly simply problem – to ensure patients understand what healthcare professionals tell them. Search to find the statistics in your area as well as what efforts are happening to increase health literacy in your community.
Your community needs you to help; your patients need you to help.
I am privileged to co-present Adolescent & Young Adult Issues, a LIVESTRONG Community Education Class, on Thursday, October 25, 2012, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM CDT. I am passionate about adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology issues as this population – those ages 15 to 39 – has not experienced improved overall cancer survival rates in comparison to their younger or older cohorts within the last three decades. In addition, the AYA population has unique physical, emotional, and practical concerns all nurses and other healthcare professionals should be aware of as well as the appropriate referral sources to adequately help this group of patients.
Whether you’re a cancer survivor, a healthcare professional, or simply someone interested in health, join me for this free education class either in person or online.
The Nurse Oncology Education Program (NOEP) recently released AvidNurse 2.1, the biggest redesign and upgrade of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch app yet. Wanna know what’s even better? It’s now free. Yep…F.R.E.E! [Insert church choir quick-tempo Hallelujah Chorus here.]
Yes, I love NOEP, so I am completely biased, but I must say, they did an outstanding job with the update. The navigation is cleaner, the graphics are snazzier, the resources and tools are updated, and they’ve added badges and access to their beautifully entertaining continuing nursing education videos (that are also free, yes!).
It’s part of my nursing practice toolbox. You should make it part of yours, as well. Not an oncology nurse? Perfect! NOEP actually creates all of its resources and continuing nursing education for nurses in all fields of practice. No matter your nursing specialty, you see and care for oncology patients or those who are at risk for cancer. Download and use AvidNurse now to help strengthen your nursing care.
What’s your favorite AvidNurse app feature?
Full Disclosure: I worked as the Program Director for NOEP prior to my current role, and I helped develop the original AvidNurse app. I still think the upgrade is waaaaay better than the original. That being said, my thoughts here are my own, and I did not receive any remuneration for this post.
I had the lovely opportunity to speak on behalf of the Nurse Oncology Education Program to a group of nurses and nurse faculty at the beautiful Moncrief Cancer Institute in Fort Worth on Saturday. One presentation was directed for faculty on how to make oncology content “stick” in undergraduate curricula, something I’ve grown passionate about as a result of working with faculty over several years. The second presentation was about colorectal cancer screening.
Both topics can be rather dull, so I try to make the content come alive in any way possible – mostly with stories, vocal tone, and creative PowerPoint backgrounds. In preparation for the presentation, I couldn’t find any background I really liked, so I just made my own with simple shapes, lines, transparency settings, and colors. One of the nursing faculty members asked for the templates, so I thought I’d share, share, share in true Nursetopia fashion.
