11 November 2022
UKONS represents the voice of cancer nursing across the four nations and so we are particularly excited to be based in Belfast for the 2022 conference. The port city of Belfast is a vibrant place with a character and sense of style all of its own, and we are particularly pleased to be on the doorstep of our UKONS members from Northern Ireland for our conference.
What makes this year’s conference particularly special is the fact that the previous two have been on-line only. Although these were successful and very well evaluated, they did lack the opportunities for in-person discussion, networking, and social connection.
The main theme of this year’s conference is ‘Cancer Care in the Digital Age’ and we are tackling head-on some of the big challenges facing oncology nursing as we recover from the pandemic and adjust to new ways of working whilst maintaining quality of care for our patients. The theme runs through our agenda and into the poster session, which this year is bigger and better than ever.
Our scientific and academic programme is particularly strong, and we are proud to have two fabulous key-note speakers based in Northern Ireland speaking on each of our two days. Heather Monteverde, Head of Services for Macmillan in the region, sets the tone of the conference presenting the vision of cancer care in Northern Ireland, whilst on the second day Professor Tanya McCance, Professor of Nursing Research & Development at Ulster University presents her research into measuring patient-centredness in nursing. In addition, we have high quality presentations from Dr Catherine Oakley discussing her work in developing a digital approach to preparing patients for SACT and Professor Jo Armes talking about the experience of being diagnosed and treated for cancer in prison. UKONS is fortunate enough to work with a wide range of industry partners and this year’s conference features particularly strong sponsored sessions, ranging from the management of breast cancer in a digital age and the use of artificial intelligence in cancer care through to promoting collaborative approaches to cancer and addressing inequalities in cancer care provision.
Concurrent sessions, chaired by UKONS Board Members, will discuss coaching and self-care, advances in safe practice in SACT delivery and will also guide attendees through the complexities of the ‘ACCEND’ cancer education programme for the UK.
We will have our, now traditional, debate which thrashes out the topical debate on which is best, virtual or ‘in-person’ consultations. Be prepared to take sides! You will also have the opportunity to attend the UKONS Annual General Meeting which will also be held on site in Belfast.
An element that UKONS are particularly proud of is the number and quality of the nursing posters, they represent the best of what our members can achieve and this year we had a huge increase in the number of posters submitted. For this reason, we are able to display around 150 of these excellent projects and a smaller number will have the chance to present in our poster sessions with the themes this year being ‘Supportive Cancer Care in the Digital Age’ ‘Communicating with Patients in Modern cancer care’ and ‘The Future of Acute Cancer Care’. We already know that some of these are remarkable pieces of work.
If this short preview has whetted your appetite for attending our conference you will be pleased to know that places are still available and you can register here.
The full agenda is available here and a full range of information on the conference including prices and hints on accommodation can be found here
On behalf of UKONS I look forward to welcoming you to Belfast.
Mark Foulkes, UKONS President