3:20 p.m., March 25, 2009----Carlton Brown, assistant professor in the University of Delaware's School of Nursing, has been named president-elect of the Oncology Nursing Society.

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The Oncology Nursing Society, a professional organization of more than 35,000 registered nurses and other healthcare providers, was officially incorporated in 1975 and is the largest professional oncology association in the world.

“It is an incredible honor for me to lead an nursing organization whose purpose is to influence the transformation of cancer care into the next decade. It is an opportunity of a lifetime and one I have aspired to for many years,” Brown said.

Brown, who has been a member of the Oncology Nursing Society for more than 17 years, said that his duties will include providing “an organized leadership approach to help our 35,000 members lasso their experience, dedication, and desire to improve the care of patients/families with cancer.”

Brown said he plans to spend time in Washington, D.C., working for better legislation to assist patients and the nurses who care for them. “I'll be one of the voices for the need for better funding for academic professors in the area of nursing,” he said.

The nation is currently in the middle of a nursing shortage, Brown said. “Part of the problem is that there are not enough faculty members to teach nursing students,” he said, and “thousands of potential students are turned away across the country annually. I hope to bring more visibility to this major issue, which will have long-term effects on our country's health care if left unattended. I'll also have an opportunity to travel internationally to share the success stories of our country's impressive approaches to nursing care in hopes of helping other countries realize their potential and actual current contributions to nursing.”

Brown, who earned his doctorate from the University of Utah and is a Registered Nurse (RN) an Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse (AOCN), joined the faculty at the University of Delaware in September, 2008. He is a researcher with a focus on adverse symptoms during cancer treatment.

“The School of Nursing here at the University has an incredible group of faculty members who both teach oncology nursing and conduct research in the area of cancer care,” Brown said.

Brown's term as president-elect begins in May. His term as president will begin in May 2010 and will run until 2012.

For more information on the Oncology Nursing Society, visit the Web site.

Article by Adam Thomas