The American Cancer Society. Upon first thought, you may think “trustworthy.” Maybe you think “old.” Do you ever jump to “nursing” or “innovative” when you think of ACS? You should.

I’m an oncology nurse, a consumer of ACS services and products, and an ACS volunteer. I <3 the ACS for so many reasons. One of the main reasons that ACS rocks (and I think many nurses may not know) is nursing has a rich history in the ACS. The Oncology Nursing Society was birthed from the first National Cancer Research Conference in 1973, a collaborative effort of the American Nurses Association and the American Cancer Society. The ACS-published A Cancer Source Book for Nurses, now in its eighth edition, is a fabulous nursing resource for any nurse. The ACS believes in nurses and nursing research so much they even provide annual graduate and doctoral nursing scholarships. The Lane Adams Award, which is now accepting nominations, recognizes nurses and other caregivers providing exceptional care. The ACS volunteer team is abundant with nurses. We’re represented everywhere and in every ACS division, working on initiatives from pain management to obesity to passing public health legislation.

Of course, there are other reasons I think the ACS is great. Second only to the National Cancer Institute, they fund cancer research like our lives depend on it. Forty-four ACS-funded researchers have received the Nobel Prize. ACS researchers, the likes of James Watson, PhD (who, ahem, discovered the double helical DNA) and Judah Folkman, MD (the father of anti-angiogenesis), have spear-headed major discoveries leading to the widespread use of the Pap Test (George Papanicolaou, MD, PhD),  the irrefutable connection between smoking and lung cancer (Hammond & Horn), and the development of life-saving drugs such as Taxotere (David Kingston, PhD), Gleevac (Brian Druker, MD), Avastin (John D. Hainsworth, MD and others). There are too many groundbreaking research moments to list here; ACS has already done it for me.

On a side note, if you’re between the ages of 30 and 65 without a history of cancer, you may consider joining ACS’ historic Cancer Prevention Study – 3.

Still more reasons ACS and nurses are tight – ACS is the “Official Sponsor of Birthdays.” Nurses have to be the unofficial sponsors, for sure. ACS is eye-balls deep in social media.You name it, and ACS is there. Dr. Len’s blog is a great read, and the ACS Twitter presence is the real-deal. @AmericanCancer, @ACS_NHO, and @acschooseyou are only a few; there are many, including individual ACS Twitterers for different divisions, states, and countries. While his tweets and opinions are solely his own, one of my favorite ACS staffers to follow is DJ Sampson. SharingHope.tv, the brainchild of all around idea-maniac David Neff, a former ACS staffer, is a combination of YouTube and a cancer support group. The annual ACS Relays for Life even occur in Second Life!

And just in case I haven’t shared enough ACS love…ACS is the recipient of mondo awards. Including an Emmy. Ahhh. Such a great BFF.

Emmy for 1988 ACS "Pack of Lies" tobacco PSA