Articles & White Papers
When working with systems that are contemplating a navigation program or when navigators visit our site because they have been hired to navigate but can not seem to find their niche, this is a question everyone asks at the beginning. It is stressed throughout the navigation world that there is not a standardized navigation program that can fit everywhere.
Approximately, 5 years ago I applied for a job as a Lung Cancer Nurse Coordinator. My experience in oncology included working as a radiation oncology nurse and an infusion nurse. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what the new job entailed, but I was anxious to move on to something new.
With 1,479,350 people projected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, what is the chance that the majority will come in contact with a form of patient navigation? 50%? Or if narrowed to a nurse navigator, maybe 25%? At current, there is no way to calculate that number, but with more cancer programs initiating patient navigation programs, the vision is to increase their chance.
After the 2006 initiation of navigation networking in North Carolina, Mary Corey, a Pfizer representative, organized a second annual meeting in Wilmington, North Carolina, in the spring of 2007. Mollie Poletto, director of the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), shared her vision of navigation from the Harold Freeman model.
The North Carolina Oncology Navigator Association (NCONA) held its first formal meeting in 2008. A steering committee composed of nurse navigators that had met informally since 2006, composed a purpose, goals, and four committees: Steering, Membership, Communication, and Education.
In the spring of 2010, the Academy of Oncology Nurse Navigators (AONN) was invited to participate in the National Patient Navigator Leadership Summit held in Atlanta, Georgia.
