RNs Navigate Cancer Care
Monday May 5, 2008
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Recognizing the need for guidance, hospitals began hiring nurse navigators about five years ago to help patients wend their way through the thicket of options and complexities of the healthcare system.
Now, five Mid-Atlantic nurses have formed the National Coalition of Oncology Nurse Navigators (NCONN) to foster collaborative relationships with fellow nurse navigators and elevate the stature of the specialty.
“We are working to establish standards of practice and, potentially, a certification or credentialing process [for nurses doing navigation with oncology patients],” says Christine M. Beerman, RN, BS, NCONN president and clinical program manager at The Center for Breast Care at Howard County General Hospital, Columbia, Md.
Those guidelines would allow adaptation to different practice settings, from community hospitals to comprehensive cancer centers.
“The nurse navigator’s role can vary among institutions, and there can be a variance in what a person does in that role,” adds Minna Manalo, CRNP, MSN, NCONN secretary and a nurse practitioner in the breast center at Georgetown University Hospital, Washington.
Nurses are not the only cancer navigators assisting patients. The American Cancer Society has a patient navigation program. The lay navigators tend to focus on financial assistance, transportation, and other nonclinical needs.
“Nurses are doing things that should not be done by a lay person,” Beerman says. “But many nurses navigating are doing the same things as a lay navigator, taking time away from other education and emotional support that a nurse can be doing.”
Rebecca S. Trupp, RN, OCN, NCONN vice president and nursing care coordinator for breast and gynecological oncology at the Suburban Hospital Cancer Program, Bethesda, Md., says a role exists for both lay and nurse navigators. “Our clinical nursing background allows us to understand the complexities of a patient’s disease and treatment and then break it down in a more understandable way,” Trupp says.
Beerman reaches out to patients shortly after diagnosis and spends considerable time with them answering questions about procedures and treatment options and side effects. Throughout their treatment, she remains an active advocate. “Navigators’ relationships are strong with patients,” Trupp says. She frequently has patients call several years after their treatment ends to say hello and give her an update on their lives.
NCONN — whose leadership also includes vice president Deborah Rose Cook, RN, and treasurer Sharon L. Francz, LPN — will establish standards of practice, define the role, and pioneer credentialing for nurse navigators. NCONN will offer a listserv where nurse navigators can ask questions and share suggestions and resources, Trupp says, and offer networking opportunities on a local, regional, and national basis by encouraging the formation of local chapters.
“This is important to improve patient care, and there is a need for a nurse to act in this role,” Manalo says.
Debra Anscombe Wood, RN, is a freelance writer.
To comment, e-mail editorDC@nursingspectrum.com.
For information, log on to www.nconn.org.
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