Six Posters Take Top Honors at AONN+ Conference

At the 4th Annual AONN+ Conference, more than 50 posters in 6 categories were presented for judging. Here are the winners in each poster category. For information on how to submit a poster for next year’s conference, visit www.AONNonline.org/conferences.

Category I: Patient Education
Improving Patient Readiness for Initial Chemotherapy Using a Nurse-Based Prehabilitation Teaching Protocol
Deanna Xistris, APRN, AOCN
Stamford Hospital/Bennett Cancer Center

In her poster, Deanna Xistris described a best practices protocol that is implemented at Stamford Hospital by nurses prior to the start of patient treatment. These prehabilitation interventions are designed to prepare patients physically and emotionally for upcoming treatments. The protocol was developed based on the identification of factors that had been observed to interfere with individual readiness for the start of therapy, the efficiency of bed/chair utilization, and responsiveness to patients’ and families’ needs.

Category II: Psychological Support
Canada’s Diagnostic Assessment Programs: An Ontario Perspective
Carol Gunsch, RN, BScN, CON(c);
Barbara-Anne Maier, RN, BScN, CON(c)
Grand River Hospital

Carol Gunsch and Barbara-Anne Maier completed a literature review on the history and rationale for the development of a diagnostic assessment program as well as the role of nurse navigators within the program. They presented quantitative and qualitative data of 10 metrics that were observed and collected over the course of 1 year in Ontario, Canada, that demonstrated the benefits of nurse navigation within the setting of a diagnostic assessment program.

Category III: Tracking Processes Across the Continuum of Care
An Outcomes Management Process for Navigation
Sharon Bartelt, RN, MSN, MBA, OCN, CPHQ, CSSBB
Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Center

Sharon Bartelt’s objective for this poster was to develop a process for tracking outcomes metrics as they relate to disease-specific nurse navigators in a community cancer center setting. The MIDAS community case management module now has the ability to track metrics related to return on investment for each disease-specific nurse navigator in order to validate the nurse navigator role at Gibbs Cancer Center.

Category IV: Original Research
Oncology Nurse Navigator Competencies: Providing Direction to Improve Care Delivery
The ONS Nurse Navigator Project Team

The ONS Nurse Navigator Project Team described the process of clearly defining the role of oncology nurse navigators using evidence-based research to develop a navigation framework that supports the oncology nurse navigator in his or her scope of professional practice. The team’s research identified 40 core competencies to define the role of an oncology nurse navigator.

Category V: Screening Programs for the Underserved
Trial of a Cervical/HPV Hispanic Screening
Robin Atkinson, RN, BSN, OCN, GYN, Oncology Nurse Navigator
Novant Health, Derrick L. Davis Cancer Center

In her poster, Robin Atkinson described a free community-based screening that was offered to women of Hispanic descent over the age of 30 years in an accessible community oncology gynecologic clinic setting during evening hours. During the course of the project, 38 women who were recruited by a Hispanic patient advocate enrolled, 34 attended the clinic, and in these women, 13 abnormal screenings were discovered.

Category VI: Community Outreach
Implementation of a Lung Computer Tomography Cancer Screening Program at Frederick Memorial Hospital
Margaret Siebeneichen, BA, BSN, RN;
Paul Chomiak, MD;
Mark Soberman, MD, MBA, FACS
Frederick Memorial Hospital

Margaret Siebeneichen described in her poster the creation of a process for screening high-risk patient populations using a low-dose computed tomography (CT). From December 2012 to June 2013, 64 patients qualified for the program and were screened; of these, 42% were identified with an indeterminate pulmonary nodule, 7% were identified with a finding worrisome for lung cancer, and 10% had other abnormal CT scan findings. The nurse navigator’s involvement decreased the time from inquiry to completed screen and also eliminated the performance of inappropriate screens.