ONS Publishing Awards

All awards, grants, and scholarships are tentative and subject to change based on funding availability.

Commendation for Outstanding Achievement for Oncology Nursing Education or Patient/Family Education


Purpose: To recognize and reward excellence in written description of a patient education development activity or an innovation in delivery of professional nursing education either in the context of an academic program or via continuing nursing education or staff development. This content may be presented in the context of a research report, a clinical article, or an expanded feature in ONF or CJON.  The number of commendations may vary from year to year. The award will consist of a certificate, presented to and accepted by the first author on behalf of the writing/research team. These papers will be acknowledged at the annual ONS Congress in the compendium of awards, honors, and other special recognitions produced and distributed annually by ONS.

Eligibility for Consideration

A published article or extended feature presentation is eligible for consideration for a commendation if it

  1. Meets general nomination criteria.
  2. Has, as its primary focus, a description of an educational intervention for patients/families or an approach to education of the professional nurse (academic or staff development).
  3. Is selected by the editor of ONF or CJON based on subject matter and exemplary presentation.
  4. Has a nurse as the first author.
  5. Achieves a combined average score exceeding 20 on the judging criteria. 

Judging Criteria

  1. The authors identify a new approach/intervention/method for education of patients/family or professional nurses or scientifically validate an existing approach/intervention/method.
  2. The article identifies and incorporates relevant educational ideas or theories.
  3. The article addresses a range of concerns regarding educational endeavors including needs for the program, development, evaluation of impact, and offers ideas for future research/development as appropriate.
  4. The article is written clearly and descriptive enough for replication of the teaching strategies/program or delivery of information.
  5. The content is adaptable to a wide variety of clinical or academic situations as appropriate.

Application Process: All full-length articles that have appeared in the appropriate volume of CJON or ONF and meet the selection criteria automatically will be considered for this award.