Recognizing Excellence in Oncology Nursing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sharon continued to embrace her calmness to provide care and support.

I am honored to nominate Sharon Manson, RN, MSN, ACNP-BC, OCN, a nurse practitioner of exceptional merit, for this prestigious Extraordinary Healer Award. I have known Sharon for more than 30 years. After decades of dedicated service and compassionate care, she is retiring, leaving behind an indelible mark on our cancer program and the countless lives she has touched.

Not only is Sharon an extraordinary healer in terms of patient care, but she has also provided that same level of caring for her staff. Sharon is a true pioneer in oncology nursing, committing to this specialty for 45 years. Over the years, she has worn many hats in her tenure at Rush University Medical Center, from bedside nurse to nurse practitioner early in her career caring for the BMT population and then hematology. She went on to be a director of our three infusion centers and is currently assistant vice president of oncology nursing in the Rush University Cancer Center.

With a vision to transform the way we provide oncology care to improve patient outcomes, her passion and conviction are unwavering. Under her leadership, our press Geney scores are consistently above 95% in patient satisfaction. Her participation in the oncology care model is because of her clinical expertise and deep understanding of oncology care and evidence-based practice. This was one of the first value-based care models.

She had the concept of a cancer center urgent care provided by experienced APPs 20 years ago. She designed and helped develop this clinic during its inception seven years ago. It was the first of its kind in the Chicago metro area. The clinic reduces ER admissions and unnecessary inpatient admissions for countless patients increasing their quality of life, on-time treatment and increased satisfaction. She champions the use of iQueue for the infusion room, which leverages machine learning and predictive analytics to help centers stay operationally agile by optimizing their scheduling templates, level-loading the daily schedule across the nursing staff, and flagging future problem days for preventive action. She has participated in countless committees across the medical center which center on quality and safety including the pharmacy committee reviewing new therapies and clinical trial requests.

Sharon has made remarkable contributions to oncology nursing. As an adjunct faculty in the College of Nursing at Rush, she shared her expertise and lectured locally and nationally. Sharon is responsible for leading the professional practice and quality of nursing in navigation, infusion, surgical oncology and radiation. She is also responsible for the operation of three clinics, 100 infusion chairs, apheresis and urgent care. Sharon is certified by the Oncology Nursing Society in biotherapy and chemotherapy and is an Oncology Certified Nurse.

Sharon continues to function as an NP in the current challenging staffing shortage. When needed, she will step into any area of the cancer center to see patients with little lead time and in medical emergencies.

During the tumultuous early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world was panicking, Sharon remained calm, attentive and supportive. With attention to the science changing in real-time and the anxiety experienced by staff and patients, she navigated our program to ensure that patients would be treated timely and safely, with continuous attention and support to a large staff she guided. She shared a smile and encouraging words with each person she passed in the hallway, which was rare during some very worrisome days. She brought an uplifting and positive presence to work every single day and guided the entire cancer center in an organized manner.

She was integral to the multidisciplinary daily huddle. Sharon also led a patient-facing webinar, “COVID Nursing Panel: We Haven’t Stopped Taking Care of Cancer,” to educate patients in May 2020. Shortly after that, she led another initiative to reach out to all new patients in 24 hours to ensure they felt safe coming to campus. This initiative has continued to ensure patients are screened and offered supportive services and financial counseling along with social determinants of health screening to be connected to these services.

Sharon has gone out of her way to get to know each nurse who has worked under her management, and that makes a difference. By engaging with her staff, remembering personal stories and providing words of encouragement, she has boosted morale and the overall culture within our team. She leads by example and is a model of what every nurse can achieve if we set our minds to it.

Throughout her career, Sharon has shown remarkable dedication to mentoring and supporting fellow nurses pursuing advanced degrees, certification and specialized training in oncology nursing. One example supported a DNP student in reducing the barriers that hinder timely access to oncology care for individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Another example of her legacy in nursing is in her role as a mentor. Sharon cared for a young nurse with a hematologic malignancy. Her exceptional care and compassion had a profound impact on this nurse. It led her on a transformative journey redirecting her own career. She contacted Sharon, who then became her mentor as she transitioned to oncology nursing. By providing unwavering support, guidance and advocacy, this nurse drawing on her personal experience has a profound impact on the lives she touches.

Sharon also is a caregiver to her family, celebrating their lives and sharing stories. Life is busy as a mom of four and now enjoying her grandchildren. Her daughter was inspired by her mother’s passion and witnessed firsthand the difference she has made in the lives of patients. She is now a Rush nurse too. She is always striving for clinical excellence in her daily nursing practice.

Her ability to focus on the business side of nursing while fostering interpersonal relationships has tremendously impacted the quality of nursing and as a result, she’s led hundreds of healers in her tenure at Rush and made us all better clinicians as a result. Sharon’s legacy will be long felt within Rush and the nursing community within our cancer center for years to come.

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