A bleak future or a golden opportunity.

The solutions to the problems facing the healthcare profession are too large to be addressed by one narrow segment, but oncologists and oncology nurses can be a model for health care in general if we build upon the ways in which we work together. Here is a shortage we have not heard much about: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently released a report projecting a serious shortfall of trained oncology specialists by 2020 (Association of In this fast-paced time of instant everything, that day seems like it is right around the corner. The demand for well-trained oncology healthcare professionals from now on will only grow. Despite the fact that cancer deaths seem to be declining, as the baby-boomer generation continues to age and our skill at cancer detection becomes more sophisticated , more cancers will be diagnosed and successfully treated and the ranks of cancer survivors needing specialized care and long-term management will swell. According to the AAMC Center for Workforce Studies (2007) report, the numbers of people diagnosed and living with cancer will rise by 81% by 2020. We have been struggling for many years to fi nd ways to deliver specialized cancer care, improve care, and widen patient access to care. Future shortages of well-trained physicians will not only slow our progress but potentially result in a reversal of all that has been gained. A survey of clinical oncologists that was part of the AAMC Center for Workforce Studies (2007) report identifi ed some potential solutions to consider. Some of the more obvious ones included increasing the number of oncology specialists and streamlining practice by decreasing paperwork and increasing the use of information technologies, but the oncologists also listed increasing the use of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) as a remedy. ASCO has charged a task force with examining the problems and making recommendations to its board of directors (Hortobagyi, 2007). According to Hortobagyi, the president of ASCO, the group will, among many activities , collaborate with specialty societies, to focus their work. Will the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) be one of those societies? I hope so. The projected shortfall of oncologists is one more dimension to the problems facing the nursing shortages that we have been struggling with in recent years, but at the same time, I see this news as a wonderful opportunity for ONS and advanced practice nurses (APNs) to be …