OREANDA-NEWS.  March 28, 2013. For the seventh consecutive year, CURE magazine is calling on cancer patients, survivors, caregivers and oncology nurses from across the country to submit essays for the 2013 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing.

The contest, made possible with financial support from Amgen Oncology’s Breakaway from Cancer® and Millenium: The Takeda Oncology Company, invites patients and their families to submit a 400 to 1,000 word essay describing the compassion, expertise, and helpfulness a special oncology nurse exhibited towards them during their cancer journey. In addition, oncology nurses can make peer nominations for their colleagues who they see going above and beyond for patients.

“As a two-time survivor, I have first-hand experience in understanding the indescribable impact that oncology nurses make in their patients’ lives,” says Kathy LaTour, cancer survivor and editor-at-large of CURE. “Each year while reading through the essays we receive, I’m transported back to the exam room in 1986 where my oncology nurse, Becky Goodman, was present for me during the most difficult time of my life.”

Once the contest closes on March 27, a team of judges comprised of the CURE staff will select the top three essays. The three nurse finalists and their essayists (plus one guest each) will receive round-trip airfare and two-night accommodations in Washington D.C., where they will be honored at a reception held in conjunction with the Oncology Nursing Society’s 38th Annual Congress on April 25, 2013. During the awards reception, one nurse will be presented with the 2013 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing and will also receive an all-expenses-paid spa trip for two.

Since the contest’s inception in 2007, more than 1,000 nurses have been nominated for the Extraordinary Healer Award. The 18 finalists, including both nurses and essayists, that CURE has honored over the past six years have included both men and women, adults and children, all representing a variety of cancer centers and hospitals and fifteen different states.

“Oncology nurses truly go above and beyond for their patients. This essay contest is an opportunity for our readers to share special moments and to honor nurses for their dedication and devotion. These stories can be funny, touching, heartbreaking, tender, short or long, but they are always powerful and moving. Every year our team looks forward to reading the essays, as they inspire us as well as thousands of CURE readers,” says Lena Huang, CURE’s editorial director.

More information on the 2013 Extraordinary Healer Award for Oncology Nursing, including contest rules, submission forms and last year’s finalist essays, can be found online at www.curetoday.com/healeraward.