If all breast centers had Dr Ruth as a faculty member, there would be no need to write this article. But they do not. It is important to bring up this sensitive topic early in your interactions with your breast cancer patients. Usually the first thing a woman worries about, however, is her mortality.
When we think about improving clinical outcomes and increasing survival of cancer, usually we are referring to the oncologists’ roles in selecting the right treatment plan, perhaps enrolling patients in clinical trials that may give them an edge over standard treatment today, or even thinking about such things as improved technology that enables healthcare providers to make the diagnosis sooner.
Though most women diagnosed with breast cancer are good candidates for breast conservation therapy, there remains a portion of women diagnosed who need to undergo mastectomy.
When it comes to navigation, there is a tendency for us to focus on patients who will be surviving their cancer diagnosis and treatment. More and more patients with metastatic cancer, however, are surviving longer than ever before.
Oncology nurses for decades have assessed the psychological needs of their breast cancer patients. So it is not surprising that this assessment would become an important function for an oncology nurse navigator as well.
If we don’t know where we’ve been, we may not understand where we are now, much less know where we are going. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the government decided to implement major changes in how hospitals would be paid for providing inpatient care. Healthcare expenses were recognized as being out of control, even back then.
Although 80% of women today are good candidates for lumpectomy (breast-conserving) surgery, we continue to see nationally a smaller number of women actually having this procedure and instead undergoing mastectomy procedures.
Often times there is a lot of education, support and resources available to a newly diagnosed breast cancer patient. She may meet with a nurse navigator, an NP involves in her surgical management, the surgical oncologist who will be operating on her, the OR scheduler, the appointment scheduling coordinator, and perhaps even other people involved in the first phase of her treatment plan.
