title: Celebrating ONS's 40th anniversary and its commitment  to cultural competency, diversity, and inclusiveness.
abstract: Today, we all have been taught that cultural competence is a valuable tool in providing patient-centered care. However, this concept was not considered a standard of oncology nursing practice when the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) began. It was not regarded as a critical component of patient safety, satisfaction, or quality care. In fact, in the 1970s, the importance of providing culturally competent care was virtually nonexistent in our nation's government policies, regulatory standards, academic curriculum, or professional practice.  .
authors.affiliation: The Division of Internal Medicine, Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.
authors.forename: Guadalupe R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Palos
mesh_terms: D054521:Cultural Competency; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D006801:Humans; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D012956:Societies, Nursing; D014481:United States
keywords: chemotherapy; febrile neutropenia; oncology nurses; supportive care