An array of original research was presented in poster form at the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) 7th Annual Navigation & Survivorship Conference, where more than 900 nurse and patient navigators met this year. Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, Program Director and Cofounder of AONN+, announced the exceptional poster in each category of the 49 accepted posters representing the best in evidence-based navigation research.
In Category I: Patient Education, the exceptional poster award went to Claire Saxton, Marni Amsellem, and Rhea Suarez from the Cancer Support Community in Washington, DC, for their national melanoma survey on how patient and caregiver informational and psychosocial needs are being met in practice.
In Category II: Psychosocial Support, the exceptional poster award went to Dana Drzayich of Comprehensive Health Insights, Humana Inc., in Louisville, KY, and her coauthors Adrianne Casebeer, Sari Hopson, Raya Khoury, Aparna Parikh, Alisha Stein, Todd Michael, Stephen Stemkowski, and Mikele Bunce of Humana and Genentech. Their poster, entitled Social Support Is a Moderator in the Relationship Between Comorbidity Medication Adherence and Healthy Days for Patients with Metastatic Cancer, showed that the relationship between comorbidity medication adherence and unhealthy days in that patient population was influenced by levels of social support, and their findings suggest that greater importance should be placed on patients’ social and caregiver resources.
In Category III: Quality, Outcomes, and Performance Improvement, the exceptional poster award went to Veronica Sampayo of the University of South Florida, for her work on the development and implementation of an evidence-based educational program on hyperglycemia in cancer patients for registered nurses. The project effectively increased nurses’ knowledge and awareness of the consequences of hyperglycemia in their cancer patients, thereby increasing their capability to effectively intervene.
In Category IV: Original Research on Navigation Programs, the exceptional poster award went to Sharon Lieb Inzetta and her coinvestigator Laura Musarra, of the Summa Health System, Akron City Hospital Breast Center in Akron, OH, for their poster entitled The Breast Imaging Nurse Navigator: Measuring the Impact on Coordinated Care Delivery – Results After the First Year. Because of the project, she and her colleagues observed improved patient satisfaction, decreased outmigration (leading to an increase in the number of cancers diagnosed), and increased overall patient volume. As a result of this successful navigation, they saw increased revenue of about $250,000 at their institution.
In Category V: Original Research on Survivorship Programs, the exceptional poster award went to Cheryl Syta, and her coauthors Barbara McHale, Jessica Sawicki and Jacqueline Dorn of St. Mary’s Cancer Treatment Center in Troy, NY, for their work in implementing a survivorship program in a community hospital–based cancer center to meet Standard 2.20 for NAPBC accreditation. She and her team developed a financially sustainable nurse practitioner–driven program that incorporated social workers to add dimension and enhance survivor resources, all while meeting the NAPBC accreditation standard.
In Category VI: Community Outreach and Screening Programs, Nikki DeLano and her colleagues Steven Lane and Melissa DeMayo from Signature Healthcare accepted the exceptional poster award for their work entitled Implementing a Breast Cancer Screening Assessment Tool in the Inpatient Setting. The screening tool they developed identifies women in the inpatient setting overdue for their yearly mammogram, helps nurses to identify patients who might be at risk for developing cancer, and educates women during their hospital stay about the importance of annual screening mammograms.
A new category was added this year—Category VII: Clinical Research—and the exceptional poster award went to Jenny Saldaña and her principal investigator, Jeffrey Ascherman, from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. Their project, entitled A New Concept in Tissue Expansion: Two-Stage Breast Reconstruction Using the AeroForm CO2 Tissue Expander System, introduced a device that allows for needle-free tissue expansion at home for women postmastectomy. The system is patient-controlled, allowing for dosing according to comfort and fewer office visits, and it was shown to be a viable alternative to saline expanders for 2-stage breast reconstruction. At press time, it was expected that the device would receive FDA clearance by the end of 2016.
Ms Shockney closed the session by recognizing the AONN+ Standardized Metrics Team that worked tirelessly to develop standardized navigation metrics in the areas of patient experience, clinical outcomes, and return on investment using the AONN+ Certification Domains: operational management, professional roles and responsibilities, research and quality performance improvement, care coordination, psychosocial support and assessment, survivorship and end of life, community outreach, and patient advocacy and patient empowerment. The team is composed of Tricia Strusowski (project lead), Elaine Sein and Danelle Johnson (coproject leaders), and Sharon Gentry, Elizabeth Brown, Nicole Messier, Barbara McHale, Cheryl Bellomo, Linda Bily, and Vanessa Rodriguez, and all were recognized for their huge contributions to the field of navigation.