An oncology nurse navigator program designed to eliminate gaps in early cancer care.
Although the burden of a cancer diagnosis for patients is profound, healthcare systems often fail to address patients' and families' psychosocial, information, and care coordination needs. The authors of this article designed an oncology nurse navigator program to proactively address these care gaps and tested the program's effectiveness in providing high-quality cancer care through a randomized, controlled trial. The program's model was informed by research synthesizing the perspectives of patients, families, clinicians, and experts throughout the country. The authors systematically incorporated feedback from participating clinical departments to improve the effectiveness of the program. This article details the intervention to help inform other systems interested in implementing an oncology nurse navigator program.
Group Health Cooperative-Group Health Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA. hornerk@medsfgh.ucsf.edu
Kathryn
K
Horner
Evette J
EJ
Ludman
Ruth
R
McCorkle
Ellen
E
Canfield
Lynn
L
Flaherty
Jennifer
J
Min
Janice
J
Miyoshi
Beth
B
Lapham
Erin J Aiello
EJ
Bowles
Edward H
EH
Wagner
D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000193:education; D000078329:Workforce