About Congress

“Congress is a time and space to reconnect with colleagues who understand what your work is about, who you can learn from and share experiences from and that’s invaluable. You may be one of a few from your home institution, but there, you have the power of numbers and colleagues that sort of bolster you for the next year.”

The History of Congress

The Oncology Nursing Society was incorporated in 1975, and soon after, the annual conference was held in 1976 in Toronto, Canada. The first conference was one day, had about 200 attendees, and all sessions took place in one room. In 1979, the annual conference adopted the current name of the conference, “Congress,” and the first official theme was created: “Nursing Makes a Difference.”

Since its creation, Congress has evolved into a five-day event with more than 4,000 attendees. Sessions are divided into five education tracks, and attendees are encouraged to build a unique conference based on their specialty.

Congress Fun Facts

• During the first ten years, Congress sessions took place with ASCO and AACR sessions.
• The first business meeting in 1976 lasted 2.5 hours and ended with the proposed bylaws being tabled. After revisions were made, ONS’s bylaws were adopted later that year.
• In 1976, ONS held two conferences: a general conference in Toronto in the spring and a clinical session in Boston in the fall. The former became the annual Congress; the latter much later became Fall Institute.
• In 1982, the first Mara Mogensen Flaherty Memorial Lecture was given at Congress.