Key Takeaways
- Breast cancer nurse and patient navigators help patients meet their needs including appointment scheduling, patient education, referrals for surgery, and more.
- Nurse navigators stay with their patient throughout their entire cancer journey, from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship and beyond.
- Patient navigators connect patients with social workers and other resources as they are needed.
Navigating breast cancer can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone. From the day you are diagnosed through survivorship and beyond, we are here to support you and guide you through every decision to help you heal.
A breast cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming for patients. With so many important decisions to make, appointments to coordinate, and a swirl of emotions to process, navigating the next steps can be challenging for patients.
With this in mind, Rochester Regional Health’s Lipson Cancer Institute brings in nurse and patient navigators as part of each patient’s cancer care team.
From the beginning of each patient’s diagnosis, a nurse navigator will work with the patient to ensure they are staying on top of appointments, having their physical and emotional needs met, and understanding where they are in their cancer journey.
What is a nurse navigator?
With Rochester Regional Health’s Lipson Cancer Institute, nurse navigators and patient navigators are an active part of each patient’s breast cancer journey. From their initial diagnosis to survivorship, these navigators follow patients through the complex path of cancer treatment.
A nurse navigator is a nurse whose role is to safely guide patients through their breast cancer journey. Patients will work with nurse navigators for their initial consultation and referrals for oncology specialists.
A patient navigator serves as a liaison between patients and healthcare providers, ensuring seamless coordination of care and support services. They assist patients in navigating the complexities of the healthcare system, from diagnosis through treatment and follow-up care.
Patient navigators advocate for patients’ needs and preferences within the healthcare system, ensuring they receive appropriate care and services, and removing barriers to care by identifying resources for patients and promoting patient health and well-being.
Patients can expect to work with nurse navigators for help with:
- making appointments
- scheduling surgery
- medication management
- providing education
Nurse and patient navigators both assist with meeting practical needs for breast cancer patients, connecting them with the right specialist or provider as smoothly as possible.
“A navigator will follow patients through the breast cancer process,” said Gina Smith-Donke, RN, BSN, OCN, a nurse navigator with the Rochester Regional Health Breast Center. “They can ask about any questions or concerns they may have and we are here for them. Seeing a familiar face throughout their cancer treatment can be comforting.”
Meeting a breast cancer nurse or patient navigator
The first time patients will be their nurse navigator is at their initial consultation. The nurse navigator will hand a pink binder full of resources to the patient, then go through it with them page by page so they understand what will be happening in the coming days and weeks.
The nurse navigator will go over the patient’s goals with them and ask them questions to determine what their needs or barriers to care might be. These might include:
- transportation
- financial concerns
- childcare or eldercare
- housing
- insurance
- nutrition
If follow-up is needed, the nurse navigator will connect the patient with a patient navigator or social worker who can help them with any areas of concern.
Each patient receives a business card with the nurse navigator’s contact information so they can get in touch with them if they have any questions.
They also provide hands-on education. If patients have a drain line put in, nurse navigators will go to the patient’s floor and teach them how to empty the drain.
“Having people who can help you navigate a complex health system is very valuable,” said Abby Squicciarini, LMSW, a social work supervisor for Lipson Cancer Institute. “Having constant support is great, especially when a cancer diagnosis can feel isolating and overwhelming.”
How navigators communicate with patients
If a patient has a question about their treatment plan, a change in symptoms, or other concerns, nurse and patient navigators are available to connect them with the best answers.
Each patient is given a phone number to call or can send a message through MyCare to their nurse or patient navigator.
“Our staff is great about answering messages before each day is done,” Smith-Donke said. “We are especially good about that at the Rochester Regional Health Breast Center.”
Nurse and patient navigators communicate openly and consistently with providers and cancer care team members, reaching out to get the right answers their patients need as quickly as possible.
They also meet with the tumor board, a multidisciplinary group of cancer care specialists who meet regularly to review patients’ cases and agree on the best course of treatment. Having nurse and patient navigators as part of that team helps to fully inform their breast cancer treatment plan.
A relationship that lasts beyond treatment
Once a patient’s breast cancer treatment ends, relationships with Lipson Cancer Institute nurse and patient navigators extend through treatment and into survivorship.
Breast cancer survivors who visit their oncologist at least once a year are still able to meet with nurse navigators and collaborative care team providers, who can help patients sort through the emotional toll that cancer can take on them.
Collaborative care combines the knowledge and experience of several different medical disciplines with the goal of helping individual patients move forward with their lives. The program creates a team for the patient and their primary care provider by pairing them with a therapist, oncologist, and psychiatric consultant.
For some breast cancer survivors, having an annual scan years after their treatment can bring up significant anxiety. Nurse navigators can connect them with someone who can help them through that.
“Sometimes there’s a surprise that a role like this even exists for patients,” Smith-Donke said. “It’s great to have a role that can support so many patients throughout their cancer journeys into survivorship and beyond.”
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