Navigation

A collaborative approach to patient navigation that involves both clinical and community navigators can ensure that the final navigation program reflects the needs of your particular institution, according to Linda Fleisher, PhD, MPH, assistant vice president of Health Communications and Health Disparities at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia.

Tarrant, Denton, Wise, Parker, Hood, and Johnson counties have a higher incidence of invasive breast cancer than any other part of Texas.

Having identified healthcare disparities reflected in the incidence of morbidity and mortality of breast cancer among Hispanic/Latina women (HLW), a team of nurses, Gina Miranda-Diaz, MSN, MPH, RN-CBPN-I; Magaly Fernandez-Ghander, BSN, MBA, RN; and Ivette Cora-Gonzalez, MSN, RN, conducted an assessment of breast healthcare disparities in Union City, New Jersey. As a result of those findings, Miranda-Diaz has initiated a navigation program for this population. The program seeks to increase screening rates among HLW, with the goal of reducing mortality through early diagnosis.

On behalf of the Academy of Oncology Nurse Navigators (AONN) leadership council, I am excited to introduce the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship (JONS), a publication designed to meet the needs of oncology nurse and patient navigators.

In the first year after a breast cancer diagnosis, women typically experience significant deterioration in their overall quality of life (QOL), but a program that connects new patients with breast cancer survivors following diagnosis seems to halt the decline.

Patient care navigation at the Billings Clinic Cancer Center spans the continuum of care from outreach efforts targeted at early detection through survivorship care planning.