Chapter News
Newsletter Date / Volume 1, Number 1
NYC 2006 Chapter Board
President-Mary Schoen
President-elect-Mary Pilossoph
Treasurer-Lisa Caltieri
Secretary-Maryellen O’Sullivan
Program Committee Chair-Nancy Houlihan
Membership Committee Chair-Geri Boyle
Nominating Committee-Denise O’Dea
Gabrielle Arauz
Delia Baquiran
Elizabeth Bilotti
Deborah Braccia
Kristin Cawley
Ann Culkin
Dominique DePalma
Vivian Gaits
Anna Giallo-Uvino
Sarah Jones
Colleen Lyons-immediate past-President
Elizabeth Rodriquez
German Rodriguez
Mary Schumann
Andrea Vinet
ONS Board
We encourage your participation in submission for the newsletter. We are looking to spotlight an oncology nurse or nurses for a featured article for future newsletters. Please take a moment to compose your thoughts and ideas. If you need assistance, please call on Mary or Ann. Also please refer to the Chapters Virtual Community Resource page for guidance. Get involved with the chapter! There are many subcommittees seeking members, REACH program, High school mentoring program, Newsletter contributors, officers.
A New Look for ONS
For those of you who were not able to attend this years congress, ONS unveiled their new logo. The new logo depicts a polar area diagram, or “coxcomb.” Florence Nightingale used polar area diagrams in the 1850s to report statistics proving that fresh water and fruit along with sanitary methods reduced the mortality rate in soldiers. The team chose this symbol to reflect ONS’s connectivity, inclusiveness, and community through the use of the pieces coming together in the center. The symbol also represents a stylized depiction of the light or flame from Nightingale’s lamp. In essence, the new logo connects the past, present, and future of evidence-based nursing practice, a hallmark of ONS.
Future Programs
November 15, 2006 - “Dance as a Metaphor for Quality of Life in Cancer Survivors”
Lois Almadrones, RN Speaker
January 2007 - TBA
/ It’s a…Newsletter!
Welcome to the first edition of the New York City Chapter Newsletter, 2006! The purpose of this letter is to enhance communication with membership, provide general information about the chapter and to offer a place for membership to facilitate networking and communication among all members and to provide easy access to chapter resources and ONS national resources. Mary Schumann and Ann Culkin, board members, have spear-headed this project and look to membership to contribute ideas, information, and raise reader’s awareness of the events and issues in the organization.
You can expect to see some changes in the format of the newsletter as it begins to evolve and grow. Please contact Mary at , or Ann at for newsletter submissions.
A Brief History of the New York City Chapter
The New York City Chapter of ONS began in 1984 with the “seeds” of Carol Sheridan, Anita Nirenberg, Helen McCarthy, Fran Necci, Randi Moskowitz, Kathy Dietz, and many others. The first meeting was at Sloan House, housing for Memorial Sloan-Kettering nursing staff, in a conference room. The program was “Care of the Patient with a Hickman Catheter.” This chapter has earned a reputation of excellence since it’s inception in 1984.The New York City Chapter was the 42nd chapter established with ONS. Today we boast a membership of 177 oncology nurses! The chapter celebrates the six core values of the Oncology Nursing Society, INTEGRITY, INNOVATION, STEWARDSHIP, ADVOCACY, EXCELLENCE, AND INCLUSIVENESS. Members represent a variety of professional roles, practice settings, industry, and subspecialty practice areas.
Please meet your past presidents, who have lead this chapter into the 21st century, with eye’s wide open to the evolving roll of the oncology nurse.
New York City Chapter Presidents
Carol A. Sheridan 1984-1986
Cely Wilfinger 1987
Randi Moskowitz 1988
Fran Necci 1989
Helen McCarthy 1990-1991
Cynthia Knauer 1992-1993
Mary McGovern 1994
Susan Derby 1995-1996
Margaret C. Baker 1997
Maureen Major 1998-1999
Virginia R. Ranitovic 2000
Judith S. Levy Battalgia 2001
Ann Culkin 2002-2003
Dominique Depalma 2004
Colleen M. Lyons 2005
Mary Schoen 2006
In 2005, a twenty year celebration of the chapter was celebrated at the Beekman Hotel with a proclamation from the Office of the Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. It proudly hangs today in the ONS National Office in Pittsburgh, PA outside the room named for Carol Sheridan, the chapter’s first president.
This chapter is a vibrant chapter whose members have made contributions to ONS nationally and internationally. Your commitment to care has never wilted since the seeds were planted. You are educated, you are educators. You are caregivers and care takers, you are authors and students, you are researchers and developers, you are unique!