title: Systematic review of oncology nurse practitioner navigation metrics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nurse practitioners should become more active in patient navigation and its subcomponent, care coordination, because research has shown that these roles are influential in improving patient care at all levels of an organization. Well-defined process and outcome measures, as well as educational initiatives, are critical to these programs because they serve as the structure for program evaluation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This article aims to assess and define metrics that nurse practitioners in the oncology setting can use to evaluate navigation programs, which is essential for the evolution of research pertaining to the navigation field.
  
  
  METHODS
  The current article is a systematic review that describes oncology nurse practitioner navigation metrics using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) format for the systematic literature review process. These metrics are then compared to current standards of care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven studies met the criteria for this review. Research is emerging that shows benefit in using an oncology nurse practitioner navigator for ensuring timely care and patient and staff satisfaction. These metrics are in line with expert consensus recommendations. The need for more research identifying sound research tools that have been rigorously tested has been identified.
authors.affiliation: Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston, TX.
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D062526:Patient Navigation; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
keywords: metrics; navigation; nurse practitioner; oncology; program evaluation