A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming - the emotions, the unknown, the decisions. At Bryan, we have specially trained nurses who are here to help you and your family through each step of your cancer journey. These nurses are called oncology nurse navigators. Oncology is the medical term for cancer.
Listen in as Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath, oncology nurse navigators, discuss how they can help you through your cancer diagnosis.
Cancer diagnosis? What’s your next step? Talk to a Nurse Navigator
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Learn more about Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath
Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath, Bryan oncology nurse navigators
Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath are oncology nurse navigators at Bryan Medical Center.Learn more about Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath
Transcription:
Cancer diagnosis? What’s your next step? Talk to a Nurse Navigator
Melanie Cole (Host): If you've been diagnosed with cancer, your world may be spinning. Where do you turn next? Who do you talk to help guide you through the maze of cancer care? My guests today are Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath. They're both oncology nurse navigators at Bryan Health. Welcome to the show, ladies. So, I'd like to just start with you, Joanna, and tell us, what is an oncology nurse navigator?
Joanna Morgan (Guest): Hi. So, an oncology nurse navigator is a specially trained nurse who's there to support the patient and family through their cancer journey. An oncology nurse navigator is experienced in oncology. We help guide, advocate, educate patients and also assess for what we call “barriers to care”. Those barriers may be financial, they may be psychosocial and so, we get patients connected that way as well--to resources.
Melanie: So, would a nurse navigator, an oncology nurse navigator, be the first person that you would look up or look to if you just got that diagnosis?
Joanna: I don't think that that's the first thing that patients think of, but absolutely. We would be available for that. You can find us in various ways and, yes, I think certainly it would be a good resource for patients to just bounce some questions off us in that initial period where you're just scared, maybe feel a bit alone, yes. I think that's a great place to start.
Melanie: And, Carrie, what are some ways that a nurse navigator in oncology can help patients and their families? What is it exactly that you do?
Carrie Waltemath (Guest): Yes. Thank you. There are many ways we help patients navigate through this and their families. One of the ways is that we act as an educator. So, we're there when they're first diagnosed and we're providing them with an understanding, ensuring they have an understanding of the diagnosis they just received, of the treatment options that they have just been presented with. So, some examples could be talking about what tests are being done, explaining the pathology, maybe connecting them with trusted, reliable websites or printed material on the diagnosis. Really just preparing them for those next steps. Another way is really to provide that emotional support that they need. It's so crucial to have that emotional support and that strong support system. So, connecting them with community resources. We've got several support groups here at Bryan for any diagnosis. Or, maybe if they need to see a counselor, putting them in touch with counselors. Or, we have a LifeSpring Recovery program or LifePointe location that really emphasizes on the survivorship aspect of cancer. And then, really just eliminating those barriers, like Joanne talked about. So, we have social workers. We work closely with them to help to eliminate those. That could be insurance, transportation or financial issues.
Melanie: So now, tell us a little bit, Carrie, about the families. When you're working with the families - because it can be just as devastating for the families as for the patient themselves. So, what is it that you tell families? How do you work with the families in helping them help their loved one and be strong and supportive?
Carrie: We pay a lot of attention to, not only the patient but the family. I mean, they really become our patient as well. And helping to guide them, explain to them as much as we are to the patient, ensuring that caregivers are taking care of themselves, getting what they need as well, and being available to them by phone or in person, really any time they need.
Melanie: So then, when we're talking about helping the families, how long, Joanna, do you stick with the family while the patient is going through this? So, if they were to look you up right at the beginning, how long through the process are you with them?
Joanna: Well, we always tell our patients and their families that when we give them our business card or contact information that that never expires. So, often we may hear from people, a couple of years later, just touching base or, unfortunately, cancer does have a tendency to come back. It can recur, so we'll hear from families down the road as well. We're really here to provide intense support in the beginning and then, there's really a hand-off that happens when the patient establishes care at an oncology office. We are always available for patients and their families. That can be anytime down the road.
Melanie: And how does that work, Joanna, for insurance and is there an extra charge for it?
Joanna: No. There is no charge for an oncology nurse navigator to be involved in your care. It's something that Bryan provides patients as a comprehensive part of their program. So, we always tell patients there's no charge and, really, it's nice to have a free resource available to call when you need support or have questions.
Melanie: And, Carrie, once a patient is diagnosed, what's the process? How do they get connected with a nurse navigator?
Carrie: Sure. So, if they're diagnosed here at Bryan, or if they're an inpatient here, we have a wonderful team that is great about notifying us of all those new cases or even the patient has a potential diagnosis-- if there are suspicious findings--and get us connected with them early on. If they're not a patient here, there are a couple of ways they can contact us. They can certainly visit our website, bryanhealth.org, and they can search cancer nurse navigator. That has our phone numbers and our emails, so they can reach out that way any time. Or, also just by calling the main number for Bryan Medical Center here in Lincoln. Or, really, we are closely connected to other providers at Lincoln and so, if a patient is seeing a provider and desires to discuss some of their care with a nurse navigator or talk about resources that are available for them, to help them through, then the physician can also refer them to us that way.
Melanie: Joanna, where does aftercare and during treatment, so side along care, even palliative care, nutrition, mental health counselling, spiritual counselling, how do you help families put all of that together while they're going through treatment?
Joanna: Sure. So, it can happen in a variety of ways. We often refer patients to those resources that you just talked about, nutrition, counselling, financial is also another thing that we work really hard at with patients. Sometimes, I've got patients who they've got all these members of the healthcare team, it's so vast, and really I've sat down with them, written out for them all the names of their providers and what all their role is, because it can often get confusing. But, I'm always amazed at how quickly patients and their families really become experts, and sometimes they even know little snippets about these providers that we may not even know, like where they took vacation recently. So, it's usually in the beginning that a lot of that explaining is seen, but we're just always amazed at how resilient our patients and their families are.
Melanie: That is amazing and I applaud all the great work that you do and, Carrie, I'm going to give you the last word here. Wrap it up for why people should look to a nurse navigator, how you can help them navigate that world of cancer if they've been recently diagnosed and why they should come to Bryan Health for their care.
Carrie: You know, we are just really committed to these patients and helping to relieve some of that stress and anxiety that can come with this. So, just letting them know that they're not alone and we know that this is just a huge, life-changing moment in their lives and we want to be there for them and help them navigate through it. We love our patients, we love what we do and we're honored to care for them and their families.
Melanie: Thank you so much, ladies. It really is great information and such great work that you do. You're listening to Bryan Health Radio and if you'd like to learn more about Bryan's cancer nurse navigators and how they can help you through your cancer diagnosis, you can go to bryanhealth.org/cancernursenavigators. That's bryanhealth.org/cancernursenavigators. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.
Cancer diagnosis? What’s your next step? Talk to a Nurse Navigator
Melanie Cole (Host): If you've been diagnosed with cancer, your world may be spinning. Where do you turn next? Who do you talk to help guide you through the maze of cancer care? My guests today are Joanna Morgan and Carrie Waltemath. They're both oncology nurse navigators at Bryan Health. Welcome to the show, ladies. So, I'd like to just start with you, Joanna, and tell us, what is an oncology nurse navigator?
Joanna Morgan (Guest): Hi. So, an oncology nurse navigator is a specially trained nurse who's there to support the patient and family through their cancer journey. An oncology nurse navigator is experienced in oncology. We help guide, advocate, educate patients and also assess for what we call “barriers to care”. Those barriers may be financial, they may be psychosocial and so, we get patients connected that way as well--to resources.
Melanie: So, would a nurse navigator, an oncology nurse navigator, be the first person that you would look up or look to if you just got that diagnosis?
Joanna: I don't think that that's the first thing that patients think of, but absolutely. We would be available for that. You can find us in various ways and, yes, I think certainly it would be a good resource for patients to just bounce some questions off us in that initial period where you're just scared, maybe feel a bit alone, yes. I think that's a great place to start.
Melanie: And, Carrie, what are some ways that a nurse navigator in oncology can help patients and their families? What is it exactly that you do?
Carrie Waltemath (Guest): Yes. Thank you. There are many ways we help patients navigate through this and their families. One of the ways is that we act as an educator. So, we're there when they're first diagnosed and we're providing them with an understanding, ensuring they have an understanding of the diagnosis they just received, of the treatment options that they have just been presented with. So, some examples could be talking about what tests are being done, explaining the pathology, maybe connecting them with trusted, reliable websites or printed material on the diagnosis. Really just preparing them for those next steps. Another way is really to provide that emotional support that they need. It's so crucial to have that emotional support and that strong support system. So, connecting them with community resources. We've got several support groups here at Bryan for any diagnosis. Or, maybe if they need to see a counselor, putting them in touch with counselors. Or, we have a LifeSpring Recovery program or LifePointe location that really emphasizes on the survivorship aspect of cancer. And then, really just eliminating those barriers, like Joanne talked about. So, we have social workers. We work closely with them to help to eliminate those. That could be insurance, transportation or financial issues.
Melanie: So now, tell us a little bit, Carrie, about the families. When you're working with the families - because it can be just as devastating for the families as for the patient themselves. So, what is it that you tell families? How do you work with the families in helping them help their loved one and be strong and supportive?
Carrie: We pay a lot of attention to, not only the patient but the family. I mean, they really become our patient as well. And helping to guide them, explain to them as much as we are to the patient, ensuring that caregivers are taking care of themselves, getting what they need as well, and being available to them by phone or in person, really any time they need.
Melanie: So then, when we're talking about helping the families, how long, Joanna, do you stick with the family while the patient is going through this? So, if they were to look you up right at the beginning, how long through the process are you with them?
Joanna: Well, we always tell our patients and their families that when we give them our business card or contact information that that never expires. So, often we may hear from people, a couple of years later, just touching base or, unfortunately, cancer does have a tendency to come back. It can recur, so we'll hear from families down the road as well. We're really here to provide intense support in the beginning and then, there's really a hand-off that happens when the patient establishes care at an oncology office. We are always available for patients and their families. That can be anytime down the road.
Melanie: And how does that work, Joanna, for insurance and is there an extra charge for it?
Joanna: No. There is no charge for an oncology nurse navigator to be involved in your care. It's something that Bryan provides patients as a comprehensive part of their program. So, we always tell patients there's no charge and, really, it's nice to have a free resource available to call when you need support or have questions.
Melanie: And, Carrie, once a patient is diagnosed, what's the process? How do they get connected with a nurse navigator?
Carrie: Sure. So, if they're diagnosed here at Bryan, or if they're an inpatient here, we have a wonderful team that is great about notifying us of all those new cases or even the patient has a potential diagnosis-- if there are suspicious findings--and get us connected with them early on. If they're not a patient here, there are a couple of ways they can contact us. They can certainly visit our website, bryanhealth.org, and they can search cancer nurse navigator. That has our phone numbers and our emails, so they can reach out that way any time. Or, also just by calling the main number for Bryan Medical Center here in Lincoln. Or, really, we are closely connected to other providers at Lincoln and so, if a patient is seeing a provider and desires to discuss some of their care with a nurse navigator or talk about resources that are available for them, to help them through, then the physician can also refer them to us that way.
Melanie: Joanna, where does aftercare and during treatment, so side along care, even palliative care, nutrition, mental health counselling, spiritual counselling, how do you help families put all of that together while they're going through treatment?
Joanna: Sure. So, it can happen in a variety of ways. We often refer patients to those resources that you just talked about, nutrition, counselling, financial is also another thing that we work really hard at with patients. Sometimes, I've got patients who they've got all these members of the healthcare team, it's so vast, and really I've sat down with them, written out for them all the names of their providers and what all their role is, because it can often get confusing. But, I'm always amazed at how quickly patients and their families really become experts, and sometimes they even know little snippets about these providers that we may not even know, like where they took vacation recently. So, it's usually in the beginning that a lot of that explaining is seen, but we're just always amazed at how resilient our patients and their families are.
Melanie: That is amazing and I applaud all the great work that you do and, Carrie, I'm going to give you the last word here. Wrap it up for why people should look to a nurse navigator, how you can help them navigate that world of cancer if they've been recently diagnosed and why they should come to Bryan Health for their care.
Carrie: You know, we are just really committed to these patients and helping to relieve some of that stress and anxiety that can come with this. So, just letting them know that they're not alone and we know that this is just a huge, life-changing moment in their lives and we want to be there for them and help them navigate through it. We love our patients, we love what we do and we're honored to care for them and their families.
Melanie: Thank you so much, ladies. It really is great information and such great work that you do. You're listening to Bryan Health Radio and if you'd like to learn more about Bryan's cancer nurse navigators and how they can help you through your cancer diagnosis, you can go to bryanhealth.org/cancernursenavigators. That's bryanhealth.org/cancernursenavigators. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.