AONN+ Conference Highlights

Each year, at the AONN+ annual conference, we pause to take note of the navigators and organizations among us who have made a significant impact in the field of oncology navigation. Although virtual, 2020 was no different, and it was with pride that we announced the 2020 class of AONN+ Award recipients. It is the distinct honor of the JONS Editorial Board and the AONN+ Leadership Council to recognize the navigators and organizations in our community who have made considerable contributions to our chosen specialty. This class of awardees includes a stellar group of navigators and organizations, each with their own unique and inspiring stories. Below, we tell their stories in the hope it provides inspiration to you in your professional life as an oncology nurse navigator or a patient navigator.

Attendees seeking to maximize the educational benefits of the conference took part in 4 preconference workshops, addressing topics including genetics and genomics, financial navigation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, professional development, and motivational interview skills for navigators.

Honoring the best in the navigation field, the AONN+ awards are presented each year in various professional categories, also recognizing a patient for outstanding contributions to the cancer community with the CONQUER: the patient voice Hero of Hope Award.

Allowing providers to connect with and care for their patients without in-person visits, telehealth has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. While advocates push for the expansion of telehealth and the opportunities it represents, providers and patients seek to overcome associated challenges.

The culmination of a mission to create standardized metrics by which navigation programs can demonstrate outcomes and value, the AONN+ Navigation Metrics Toolkit provides guidance for putting the metrics into practice.

In a timely keynote presentation that struck home for navigators, Bina Parekh, PhD, discussed the profound impact of vicarious trauma and how to develop the resilience to transform it into something positive.

Amid the anguish of a cancer diagnosis, childbearing may be far from a patient’s mind. However, fertility preservation is an important consideration, which providers must be prepared to discuss.

After experiencing multiple struggles during his own journey toward becoming a breast cancer survivor, Bret Miller, co-founder of the Male Breast Cancer Coalition, is sharing his experiences to raise awareness and ease the burden of other men with the disease.

Although rare, cancers of unknown primary origin present a quandary for clinicians. Fortunately, the pathology team is equipped with an array of tools to help narrow down the malignancy site so that patients can receive the best possible treatment.

Underrepresented in cancer clinical trials, racial and ethnic minorities often miss out on the benefits of research participation. Educating potential participants on clinical trials can increase enrollment among populations that have been commonly overlooked.

Prioritizing quality over quantity of care, value-based care and the alternative payment models it incorporates are complicated concepts to master. A primer for navigators dispelled some of this complexity.

Personalities clash in any workplace, and clinical settings are no exception. By learning communication techniques to defuse conflicts, navigators can keep personal battles at bay and remain focused on what matters most—patient care.

Explaining its worthy undertaking of bringing navigation to countries of low and middle income, representatives of the American Cancer Society Building Expertise, Advocacy, and Capacity for Oncology Navigation (BEACON) initiative discussed the development of a toolkit for navigation program development.

In a 3-part presentation, the AONN+ Policy and Advocacy Committee shared its work and goals, discussed COVID-19 and its impact on patients with cancer, and provided an update on Medicaid expansion.

Key components of cancer care, prehabilitation and rehabilitation help to ensure the effects of cancer and its treatment are minimal. Focusing on lymphedema and its profound effects, the presenters discussed the management of this condition for patients with cancer.

Behind the seemingly innocuous vaping devices sold in countless shops nationwide lurk gravely dangerous chemicals that threaten the health of young people.

Nurses and navigators play a crucial role in teaching patients about genetics and genomics, as well as in gathering the vital information necessary to actually carry out genetic testing and allowing patients to take control of their genetic inheritance.

At the 2018 AONN+ Annual Conference, attendees heard a rapid-fire rundown of some of the most newsworthy, and sometimes controversial, topics in cancer care.

Patients with cancer, even in the most “favorable” of circumstances, often face hurdles to care.

Cancer rehabilitation is about making sure patients can take care of themselves and function independently, according to Stacye Mayo, MOT, OT/L, CLT-LANA, Senior Director of Clinical Operations for ReVital, a nationwide comprehensive cancer rehabilitation program.

Whether an oncology navigation program is just starting out or has already become a well-oiled machine, there are usually a few—or perhaps, quite a few—ways that a navigation program can potentially be improved, according to Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, ONN-CG, Co-Founder and Program Director of the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+).

About 2 years ago, the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) unveiled 35 evidence-based oncology navigation metrics.

Brianne Dart’s cancer journey began in 2006.

For patients with cancer, developing an individualized treatment plan requires a multidisciplinary team approach, and as the use of oral oncolytics increases, so does the need for effective communication between all oncology providers involved in patient care.

According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, clinical trials provide the best management of patients with cancer, but despite this, less than 10% of participants in clinical trials come from minority populations.

Patient education is vital to the successful administration of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy.

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system is a classification system used to describe the extent of disease progression in patients with cancer.

Most men need to pay more attention to their health, according to Frank dela Rama, RN, MS, AOCNS, a clinical nurse specialist in oncology/genomics at Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California.

Bluebird Bio develops plan to sell gene-replacement therapy with annual payments contingent on continued effectiveness

No matter who you are, cancer is frightening, complicated, and overwhelming, according to Jill Biden, EdD, lifelong educator, former Second Lady of the United States, and cofounder of the Biden Cancer Initiative.