Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com Author: staff The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has selected Peggy Wiederholt, R.N., as the inaugural winner of the ASTRO Nurse Excellence Award, which is awarded to a registered nurse who goes above and beyond the normal standards of nursing practice. Ms. Wiederholt was presented with her award, a $1,000 grant, at the nurses' welcome and orientation luncheon held Sunday, September 21, 2008, at 12:00 p.m. during ASTRO's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston. Ms. Wiederholt is the head and neck oncology nurse coordinator at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center in Madison, Wis., where she is responsible for bridging communication between patients and providers, assisting patient needs, coordinating care, managing chemoradiation-induced symptoms and side effects, and providing patient, family and staff education. She has worked in the University of Wisconsin System for over 25 years, the last five of which were in the Radiation Oncology Department. During her time as a radiation oncology nurse, Ms. Wiederholt co-founded "Heads Up," a head and neck cancer patient support group at the Carbone Cancer Center and now serves as the group's co-director. In January 2007 she served as a member of the steering committee for the first multidisciplinary head and neck cancer symposium sponsored by ASTRO, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Head and Neck Society. Ms. Wiederholt has also co-authored a cancer patient handbook titled, "The Write Track, a Personal Health Tracker for Cancer Patients." For the past two years, [...]