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CNSA-ICCN Congress 2025

July 19, 2025 10:48 AM | Yiyuan Zhao (Administrator)



From June 18 to 21, 2025, the International Conference on Cancer Nursing (ICCN) was successfully held in Adelaide, Australia. The conference was jointly held with the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA) with the theme of "Global Voice, Local Actions: from inspiration to implementation". Nearly 1,150 oncology nurses from more than 30 countries and regions attended the conference.

Pre-Congress Symposium (June 18, 2025)

Prof Patsy Yates (ISNCC Past President) and Prof Winnie So (ISNCC President) conducted a pre-conference workshop “Future Ready: Working together to build a sustainable and resilient cancer nursing workforce”. The workshop aimed to explore factors impacting the cancer nursing workforce and considerable strategies to build a sustainable and resilient workforce for the future to drive the best possible outcomes for people at risk of or affected by cancer.


Opening ceremony (June 19, 2025)

The Congress began with a Welcome to Country led by Suzanne Bartlett, Chairperson of conference program committee, and a formal opening from the Hon Chris Picton MP, Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

Plenary Sessions

Plenary Session one: the opening plenary brought together national leaders, personal stories, and global perspectives to launch the Congress theme: Global Voices, Local Actions: From Inspiration to Implementation.

Plenary Session Two: Inspiration to Implementation - Genomics and Lung Cancer Screening, explored how emerging science is transforming cancer care--shaping how to prevent, detect, and treat cancer across diverse populations. The expert panel examined lessons learned from global leaders, barriers to implementation, and strategies for equitable access. The panel also discussed early detection, workforce capability, and the critical role of nurses in supporting at-risk population.


After the plenary session 2, Prof. Winnie So, President of ISNCC, presented a distinguished merit award to Prof Annie Young, an Emerita Professor of Nursing at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, UK. This award is offered once every two years in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the international advancement of the science and art of cancer nursing.

Plenary Session Three: Leading with Impact - Palliative Care, Survivorship & Advocacy

This plenary session brought together diverse voices to explore compassionate, equitable, and Patient-Centered care across the cancer continuum—from diagnosis to survivorship and end-of-life care. In the panel discussion, panel exerts explored what equity looks like, how nurses and consumers drive advocacy, and nurse-led leadership is key to system-wide change.

Plenary Session Four: Building Capability - Navigation, Education and Workforce Needs. This session focused on Navigation and Education in cancer care—how they can strengthen the cancer nursing workforce while improving outcomes across the care continuum.

Plenary Session Five: Cecilia Peña was recognized as the recipient of the ISNCC Past President's Award, which is honored to recognize outstanding leadership and contributions to cancer care in low- and middle-income countries. Ceceilia shared her experiences at the Congress, and a message of resilience for nurses working in diverse settings around the world. Then, Dr Tabitha Healey brought the Congress to a close, creating space for reflection, renewal, and resilience -honoring global leadership and prioritizing the emotional wellbeing of cancer nurses.

Thematic parallel sessions

The conference featured nine parallel thematic sessions. These themes encompassed the refugee experience and its impact on cancer nursing practice; fostering local perspectives and regional collaborations in cancer care development; exploring equitable cancer care through nurse - led and consumer - informed innovation; amplifying regional voices; promoting greater involvement of cancer nurses in caring for cancer survivors; leveraging global expertise for local impact in children's palliative care; uniting cancer nurse educators; strengthening oncology nursing partnerships; and examining the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on cancer care provision, including lessons learned and future directions, as presented by ISNCC& EONS.

Oral presentation sessions

The oral presentation sessions covered a wide range of topics, such as patient education, the cancer nursing workforce, current challenges and constraints faced by cancer nurses, nurse-led interventions impacting patient outcomes, palliative care, survivorship, nursing education in cancer care, vascular care, supportive care toolkits, Patient-Centered care experiences and support for cancer nurses, as well as patient- centered care research. Scholars, nurse clinicians and leaders worldwide shared their research studies and clinical experiences about the above themes.

Poster presentations: The conference featured hundreds of poster presentations and a lot of themed booths in the exhibition hall, facilitating vibrant academic exchanges among scholars and clinical experts across the world.


Travel grants program

The travel grant program has been established to further the mission and vision of the ISNCC to foster the development of cancer nursing internationally, particularly focuses on supporting nurses from low and middle resource countries. Travel grant recipients are expected to share their experiences and newly acquired knowledge with colleagues following attendance at the International Conference on Cancer Nursing.

Recipients of Travel scholarship


The four-day CNSA-ICCN 2025 Congress successfully concluded, providing a platform for knowledge and experience exchange among cancer nurses globally. Participants gained fruitful insights, enriched knowledge in cancer care, and broadened horizons through the event, which also played a vital role in promoting future global collaboration and professional advancement in cancer nursing.

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