AONN+ Blog

Thank you to all who applied to attend the 2024 AONN+ Midyear Conference on scholarship. All applicants were notified in March of our decision. If you were among the individuals selected for this opportunity, we congratulate you and ask that you familiarize yourself with the agreement terms.

AONN+ is proud to announce that the following 3 members have been named to the American Cancer Society’s National Navigation Roundtable Steering Committee: Emily Gentry, AONN+ Executive Director of Strategy and Operations; Jennifer Bires, Executive Director of Life with Cancer and Patient Experience for the Inova Schar Cancer Institute; and Zarek Mena. This is an exciting opportunity and we’re honored to have you representing AONN+ on the national stage. Congratulations!

As we bid farewell to another remarkable year, Emily Gentry, Executive Director, Strategy & Operations, AONN+, takes this opportunity to reflect upon 2023, to express her gratitude to AONN+’s membership for your unwavering commitment to excellence in oncology navigation, and to wish all of you a wonderful New Year.

December marks the close of 2023 and of AONN+’s conference season. The month brought Sharon Gentry and Emily Gentry several opportunities to highlight AONN+’s work to advance the navigation profession, reconnect with colleagues, and expand their network.

Through speaking engagements and other industry-sponsored activities this fall, AONN+ leaders raised awareness and understanding for the challenges of patients with cancer, the resources available to these individuals, and the vital role of navigators in the oncology care continuum.

AONN+’s CATCH (Catching & Addressing Threats to Care & Health) Initiative has brought to light the many ways in which navigators are intervening within their own organizations to influence positive outcomes. At Annual 2023, we had the opportunity to celebrate two navigators whose CATCHs truly exemplified the value and efficiency of navigators. Please join us in congratulating Nurse Navigator CATCH of the Year Laura Kaminski, and Patient Navigator CATCH of the Year, Cynthia Shechter.

It’s been a very busy fall for members of AONN+’s Leadership Council, with members presenting at prominent national meetings on a near weekly basis. At each venue, we served as advocates for the navigation profession and as ambassadors for AONN+. Learn what we’ve accomplished to date and where you can look for us next!

Monica Dean, AONN+ Director of Patient Navigation, gave the keynote address at the Cancer Patient Navigators of Georgia Annual Meeting on September 25, 2023. She shares that the meeting theme, “Community of Navigation: Working Together Towards Patient-Centered Care,” speaks to the heart and soul of patient navigation.

How is the value of a navigator being captured in your care system? In this article, AONN+ Program Director Sharon Gentry talks about the importance of patient feedback in demonstrating the value of navigation care and ways that this information can be solicited.

In April, Leadership members Emily Gentry and Jordan Henderson, AONN+ Director of Program Development, traveled to San Antonio to represent AONN+ at the annual Oncology Nursing Society’s annual Congress. They came back refreshed, reenergized, and full of new ideas for AONN+.