Welcome to the first of a series of podcasts that will be highlighting articles from the Oncology Nursing Forum (ONF).  Primarily using author interviews, these podcasts are intended to stimulate discussion about and shed new light on the issues, topics, and questions raised in select ONF articles. Listening to the podcasts is as simple as clicking a button (see instructions below), so sit back and enjoy an ONF  podcast today.

Listen in as ONF Editor Rose Mary Carroll-Johnson, MN, RN, interviews Betty Ferrell, RN, PhD, FAAN, and Nessa Coyle, PhD, RN, FAAN, about their March 2008 ONF article “The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Nursing” (click here to view article). The article touches on some of the content in their newly published book on the same topic. Both authors share their experiences with suffering in caring for patients with cancer and discuss how nurses can develop techniques for easing patient suffering and the role of nursing education and mentoring in this process. Nurses who care for patients and families regularly also need to protect themselves from compassion fatigue. Dr. Coyle and Dr. Ferrell discuss this danger and some of the ways in which nurses can develop some resilience.

Ferrell is a world-renowned expert in nursing research and end-of-life care of patients with cancer. She is a Research Scientist at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Southern California. Coyle is a Nurse Practitioner in the Supportive Care Program of the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Ferrell and Coyle are authors of a book titled The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Nursing, published in 2008 by Oxford Press.