Navigation

Navigators at the Miami Cancer Institute (MCI) have built a successful navigation program database to track patient care delivery and report metrics, according to Morgan Nestingen, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, NEA-BC, OCN, ONN-CG, director of Nursing, Patient Intake and Navigation Services at MCI.

A first-of-its-kind navigation acuity tool is entering a critical new phase of its development: an Institutional Review Board (IRB) quality initiative that will span 6 sites and include a minimum of 200 patients.

As a survivor of homelessness, domestic abuse, and advanced-stage breast cancer, Gail Zahtz is no stranger to hardship. When things got so bad that she was told to simply “accept her situation,” she credits her navigator with saving her life by helping her find her own voice.

According to Ms Gentry, who spoke at the 2022 AONN+ Midyear Conference in Austin, TX, the navigation profession indeed kept up with the changing healthcare environment, leading to the development of navigation core competencies, as well as the only nationally recognized certifications for Oncology Nurse Navigator–Certified Generalist (ONN-CG) and Oncology Patient Navigator–Certified Generalist (OPN-CG).

Being new to oncology navigation can undoubtedly be intimidating and overwhelming, but perhaps most important, many rookie navigators simply don’t know where to start, according to Deidra Hamilton, MSN, RN, OCN, ONN-CG, a nurse navigator (and cancer survivor) based in Las Vegas, NV.

International patients seeking cancer treatment in the United States face a number of unique barriers to care, according to Elizabeth Paucar Harris, MBA, chief executive officer at H.O.P.E., Helping Our People Everywhere.

The National Navigation Acuity Team – a collaborative initiative between AONN+ and Astellas – is developing an acuity tool to optimize patient care.

The tenets of navigation have significantly improved oncology patient care – and nurses in other specialties have taken note. Here’s what’s in their future.

The National Acuity Initiative presents their findings from a scoping review of the literature. These results informed the creation of case studies on which the acuity tool will be tested and validated.