VICC’s Woods to lead oncology nursing group

BY: DAGNY STUART

2/13/2009 - Jennifer Woods, R.N., M.B.A., manager of the Cancer Patient Care Center at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has been elected president of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the 130-member Oncology Nursing Society.

The national Oncology Nursing Society provides nurses with educational and certification programs. But it is the opportunity to join other oncology nurses to influence public health care policy at a regional and national level that Woods finds most intriguing.

“One of the legislative measures we are supporting would allow health care providers to bill insurance companies for one hour of patient education. We can actually decrease the cost of care by allowing nurses to give patients proper education about their conditions, their medications and lifestyle issues.

“If we could bill for that hour we could increase our resources, and in the long run it will reduce health care costs.”

Woods says oncology nurses also can make a difference in cancer prevention by advocating for coverage of preventive cancer screening.

Woods has been an oncology nurse for 20 years, including a stint in the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at Vanderbilt Medical Center, before she moved into a management role at Vanderbilt-Ingram.

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