Joanne M. Quillen, APN
Hematology/OncologyPrimary Office
Get to Know Me
I am passionate about educating and guiding pediatric oncology survivors to be knowledgeable about their health. In order to achieve this, I received my master’s in nursing from University of Pennsylvania Graduate Nursing Program, with a focus in pediatric oncology. This was the first program in the country with a focus in pediatric oncology.Why I Treat Children
I am from the Wilmington area, and from a large family (one of eight). As a child, two of my sisters were diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This had a big impact on me, watching them go through treatment. At the time of their treatment, there were no central lines/Zofran for nausea. It was a very different time and hard to watch. I became a nurse and worked with Dr. Rita Meek in her office. Dr. Meek was the first pediatric oncologist to arrive in Wilmington. Later in life, my older sister developed breast cancer and heart failure, which was a direct result of her past treatment. At the time, people were unfamiliar with these side effects. This led me to pursue my master’s at the University of Pennsylvania and develop the first survivorship program in Wilmington. The goal of the program is to help survivors live healthy lives and transition to adulthood.What I'm Passionate About
My passion is educating survivors of cancer. We do this in our clinic on a daily basis. I’ve also conducted several research studies in the survivorship clinic, assessing levels of knowledge about the disease and making the transition to adulthood/learning. The three studies resulted in journal publications. I am a faculty advisor for the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Nursing Program oncology track, and am passionate about helping educate nurses to be excellent and to advocate for our patients.How I Try to Make A Difference
Our psychology colleagues join us in the survivorship clinic to help with assessing learning, and providing school support and overall wellness. We also work closely with cardiology. We developed a wellness approach to protecting the heart after exposure to cancer treatment. We also are working with the cardiology staff to evaluate the usefulness of exercise stress tests to assess heart damage, sooner rather than later.Education & Training
Board Certifications
- American Nurses Credentialing Center
Awards & Recognition
- 2015 Most Patients With Neurocognitive Late Effects in the Country, Children's Oncology Group (COG)
- 2011 Grand Prize for Outstanding Dedication to Nursing Excellence in Research Category, Nemours/ Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
Insurance Accepted
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna PPO/POS/EPO
- Amerihealth Caritas Delaware
- Carefirst MD Community Health Plan Mcaid
- Cigna Lifesource Transplant
- Cigna/Great West HMO EPO POS
- Cigna/Great West PPO
- Delaware First Health
- Delaware Medicaid/Diamond State
- Devon Health Services
- Fidelis Care NJ Medicaid HMO
- First Health/Affordable PPO
- Geisinger Health Plan Commercial
- Global Medical Managment DE/PA
- Health Partners Medicaid/Kidz Partner HMO
- Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware Traditional
- Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delware HMO PPO POS EPO
- Highmark Medicaid Health Options
- Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield NJ HMO
- Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NJ PPO
- Independence Blue Cross/Amerihealth/Keystone HMO PPO
- Insurance Administrators of America
- INTEGRA Administrative Group (ClaimsBridge)
- Keystone First Medicaid HMO
- Lifetrac Transplant
- Maryland Medicaid
- Multiplan PPO
- National Transplant (Humana)
- New Jersey Medicaid
- Olympus Managed Healthcare PPO DE/PA
- Plan Vista/NPPN PPO
- Preferred Healthcare PPO
- Private Health Care Systems (PHCS)
- Qualcare HMO/POS/PPO
- Star Healthcare Network
- Three Rivers Provider Network
- Tricare/Humana Military Health Services
- United Healthcare of the Mid-Atlantic
- UPMC MCAID/CHIP PA DE
- US Family Health Plan
- Wellpoint Maryland Medcaid
Research Activities
My research activities include:
2014 Daisy Nursing Grant ($3700) – Principal Investigator – Identifying Barriers to Transitioning Among Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors
2013 Nursing Grant ($1100) – Principal Investigator in conjunction with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) CHOP Survivorship Program – A Comparison of Adolescent, Young Adult (AYA) and Parental Knowledge Regarding Cancer Treatment and Potential Late Effects of Therapy
2009 Principal Investigator – Neurocognitive Late Effects of Childhood Cancer Survivors
2007 Co-Investigator – CHP 889: A Comparison of Parent and Clinician Reported Toxicities in Standard Radiation Versus Proton Beam Radiation in Children With Posterior Fossa Tumors
Poster Presentations
2017 – 3rd Regional Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) Conference, PA. A Multidisciplinary Approach to Program Development: Easing the Process of Fertility Preservation for Patients and Families; Danielle Morley BSN, RN, CPHON; Joanne Quillen, MSN, PNP-BC
2016 – Pediatric Nursing Conference, Philadelphia, PA; Standardization of Fluconazole Dosing in the Blood & Marrow Transplant Population, Meredith Davide, RN, BSN, CPHON1, Anne Wohlschlaeger, MSN, CRNP2, Ellen Levy, MSN, CRNP2 & Joanne Quillen, MSN, CRNP3 1 University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, 2 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 3 Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children
2016 – American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Cancer Survivorship Symposium – Implementation of an Integrative Wellness Program for Pediatric Cancer Survivors at Risk for Cardiac Late-Effects
2016 – 7th International Nursing Conference on Child and Adolescent Cancer Survivorship – Implementation of an Integrative Wellness Program for Pediatric Cancer Survivors at Risk for Cardiac Late-Effects
2015 – Development, Integration and Evaluation of a Wellness Approach for the Cancer Survivor at Risk for Cardiac Late-Effects, Nurses Week poster Fair, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children – 1st prize for Research category
2014 – A Comparison of Adolescent, Young Adult, and Parental Knowledge Regarding Cancer Treatment and Potential Late Effects of Therapy; 3rd Regional APHON conference
2013 – Clinical Innovation to Increase Patient Population and Initiation of Off Treatment Oncology Summary Among Childhood Cancer Survivors, Nurses Week Poster Fair, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children – 2nd Place for Clinical Innovation category
2011 – Follow-up of Recommendations Given in the Neuropsychological Evaluations of Childhood Cancer Survivors, Nurses Week Poster Fair, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children – Grand Prize for Outstanding Dedication to Nursing Excellence in Research category
2010 – Follow-up of Recommendations Given in the Neuropsychological Evaluations of Childhood Cancer Survivors, Fourth International Nursing Conference on Children/Adolescent Cancer Survivors, Williamsburg, Virginia
2008 – Central Neurogenic Hyperventilation Syndrome – Case Presentation, APHON conference, New Mexico
2001 – Understanding the Importance of Clinical Trials at the national APHON meeting in Utah
- English