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Patient navigation as a care coordination model continues to evolve. With no standard credentials, titles, training, or job descriptions, navigation programs are as varied as the people who perform this role. Nevertheless, the nurse navigator provides a holistic approach to care delivery and focuses on care coordination, education, and physical, social, and emotional aspects of care.

The Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship had the opportunity to speak with Virginia Vaitones, MSW, OSW-C, at the fifth annual Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) conference. Ms Vaitones is an oncology social worker at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport, ME, and represents the Association of Oncology Social Work at the Commission on Cancer (CoC). She is also on the CoC Executive Committee, and was involved in writing and updating the CoC’s Cancer Program Standards 2012: Ensuring Patient-Centered Care. Ms Vaitones served as a faculty presenter at the 2014 AONN+ conference.

The Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship had the opportunity to speak with Sharon Gentry, RN, MSN, AOCN, CBCN, at the fifth annual Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) Conference. A breast health nurse navigator with Novant Health: Derrick L. Davis Cancer Center in Winston-Salem, NC, Ms Gentry is a member of AONN+ as well as its Quality, Outcomes, and Performance Improvement Committee.

We hear more and more from the growing body of scientific evidence demonstrating the importance of physical activity for cancer prevention, cancer survivorship, and optimal quality of life before, during, and after cancer treatment. Physical activity contributes to our health by helping to control our weight, maintaining healthy bones and muscles, and promoting our psychological well-being. Despite proven health benefits and broad awareness of the benefits of physical activity, the results of recent studies suggest that more than 50% of Americans do not engage in enough regular physical activity.

According to a recent assessment of bowel dysfunction–related needs, the hardships for colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors continue long after leaving the operating room, and survivors desire more information and strategies to help cope with unexpected changes to their bowel patterns, researchers said at the 2015 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium held in San Francisco, CA.

The following clinical trials are currently recruiting patients with cancer for inclusion in several investigations. Each trial description includes the NLM Identifier to use as reference with ClinicalTrials.gov.

Welcome to our first issue of the New Year for the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship. This issue is filled with information that I am confident you will find inspiring and applicable to your work as a navigator.

As I embarked on my nursing career more than 25 years ago, I remember having feelings of both excitement and anxiety. I had just graduated with a degree as a registered nurse at 19 years old when I went for my first interview at a local community hospital in southern New Jersey—it was for a position with a medical surgical–oncology unit. I was interviewed by the unit’s nurse manager.

While many hospital-based survivorship programs have been developed in large cancer centers, it is important to understand how cancer support services can be delivered in small rural communities. The purpose of this article is to describe how contextual factors have influenced the development and evaluation of a cancer navigation and support program in a small Texas border community.

Mapping patients’ process along the cancer care continuum helped the GW Cancer Institute’s navigation team prioritize quality improvement projects, illustrate how navigators can contribute to quality improvement, and ensure navigators were focused on core navigation duties.