AOSW Connections

Many faces come to mind as I think about what led me to this role as your president. Like all of you, these faces are easy to call to mind, they are the reason for our work. One of these faces belongs in a support group I facilitate for women living with advanced, metastatic cancer that I have been co-facilitating since 1999. It is a group that meets every two weeks—year-round—and we do not limit the number of sessions because these women never get over their cancer. They may be a part of the group for a few years until their cancer prevents them from coming. This is the clinical aspect of my work that I hold onto in order to inform my life, my teaching and my research. These women teach me much. They are my purpose, and the reason for my vision and mission.

News headlines the past calendar year have forced me to think about social justice quite often. The NASW Code of Ethics tells us that social justice is a value of our profession:

Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people…activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.

I am humbled by the opportunity to serve as your new AOSW Research Director. The support you have demonstrated by your confidence and enthusiasm in my appointment means the world to me. Please trust that I will work tirelessly to address the needs of our cancer community in this role as your research director and more broadly in my academic role at the Duke University School of Nursing.

As oncology social workers, one of our biggest roles is finding ways to support our patients. This can mean offering supportive counseling, providing access to financial resources and building support programs that allow patients to connect with their peers.

On Feb 1, 2014, Dr. Jeffrey Piehler‘s article, “Ashes to Ashes, but First a Nice Pine Box,” was published online in The New York Times. The subsequent film, “patient, a surgeon’s journey,” was inspired by Piehler’s message, “No one wants to talk about dying, but everyone wants to talk about dying.”

As a certified oncology social worker, I have had the opportunity to attend numerous conferences focused on education related to the psychosocial needs of patients with cancer. Working in small programs, however, the hematology population has also typically been included in my job responsibilities.

How long have you been an oncology social worker?
10 years