Highlights from Sunday, November 19, 2017

Conference Highlights published on November 19, 2017 in 2017 Annual Conference

After having breakfast in the Exhibit Hall with friends and colleagues, conference guests took part in the AONN+ Navigator Networks Workshop. Attendees then convened in the Mediterranean Ballroom for Poster Award presentations and the remaining sessions of this year’s event.

Poster Award Presentations Recognize Outstanding Research

Poster presentations provide navigators and other clinical professionals with a forum through which they can share their research work. Each year, AONN+ celebrates the investigative efforts of its members by recognizing top posters in various categories.

Winners in each category were announced on the last day of AONN+’s Eighth Annual Navigation & Survivorship Conference, and the authors presented their findings to the audience. Those taking top honors this year were:

Category I: Community Outreach/Prevention
Real-Time Breast Cancer Risk Assessment at Screening Mammography
Kathy Albano, RN, BSN, CN-B

Category II: Care Coordination/Care Transitions
Benefits of Implementing an Automated Workflow Cancer Conference Platform
Lijo Simpson, MD; Anju Mathew, MBA; Doris Jones, MSN, RN, OCN; Kim Gullion, MSN, RN, OCN; George Mirand

Category III: Patient Empowerment/Patient Advocacy
Structured Exercise Prescription Program: Targeting Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Patients to Improve Impairments
Lisa Ross, BS, ACSM/ACS Certified Cancer Exercise Trainer; Tracy Mazour, RN, MSN, OCN; Stephanie Mamantov, ACSM/ACS Certified Exercise Trainer; Emily Berry, MSPH; Aurelio Rodriguez; Keith Argenbright, M

Category IV: Psychosocial Support/Assessment
Efficacy of the Breast Cancer Navigator Role in Reducing Distress in Newly-Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients: A Pilot Study
Patricia Johnson, BS, RN, OCN, CBCN; Anne Bongiorno, PhD, APHN-BC, CN

Category V: Professional Roles and Responsibilities
Educational Needs Related to Nursing Skill Level and Awareness of Navigating the Complexities of the Cancer Care Continuum
Sharon Gentry, RN, MSN, CBCN, AOCN, ONN-CG; Lillie Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, ONN-CG; Margaret V. Clark, MSc, RN, RRT - NPS, CMP

Category VI: Research, Quality, Performance Improvement
Helping Breast Cancer Patients Manage Care Transitions Through Patient and Navigator Use of 4R Care Plans, 4R = Right Information/Care/Patient/Time
Julia R. Trosman, PhD; Jennifer Stein, RN; Valerie Nelson; Jennifer Tepper, MSN, APN, CBCN, CNS; Cathy Spagnoli, MSHA, RN, CBCN, CN-BN, ONN-CG; William J. Gradishar, MD, FASCO, FACP; Claudia B. Perez, DO; Mikele Bunce, MPH, PhD; Wayne Pan, MD, PhD; Liliana Mendoza, RN; Alma Sotelo, CN-BA; Swati Kulkarni, MD; Lynn Galuska Elsen, RN, BSN, IBCLC; Christine Weldon, MB

Category VII: Operations Management, Organization Development, Health Economics
Can Transparency of Individual Navigation Performance Improve Overall Navigation Program’s Operational and Quality Metrics?
Kendra Nelms, MHA, RN, OC

Category VIII: Survivorship and End of Life
If We Build It Will They Come?
Sandra Miller, MHSM, RN, NE-BC; Carolyn Allsen, BSN, RN, OCN, ONN-CG; Sylvia Brown, MS, RN, OCN, CNL, ONN-CG; Krystie Fenton, BSN, RN, OCN; Carol Kirton, BSN, RN, OCN; Angela Sisk, MSN, RN, OCN, AHN-BC; and Deidra Teoh, MSN, RN, OCN, ONN-C

A Workshop on Transitional Consultations and Survivorship Care Plans

An in-depth discussion about survivorship care plans, led by Jennifer R. Klemp, PhD, MPH, MA; Patricia Leighton, MSN Ed, OCN, ONN-CG; Staci K. Oertle, RN, MSN, APN, AOCNP; and Jodi Stoner, APRN, ACNS-BC, MSN, kicked off with a conversation about why survivorship care, and the survivorship care plan, are so important. They then looked at the elements of the care plan and factors that often make them difficult to develop (ie, time-consuming, labor-intensive, not sure how to use or when). The conversation shifted to survivorship care models and how to decide which is best, and concluded with a discussion about the survivor as a self-advocate. During this portion of the workshop, Staci made the point that as navigators, we’re often distracted by the act of the care plan. The fact is that the actual cost of care is much lower than the cost of survivorship. This is due to the increasing number of cancer survivors.

Patricia then took over to talk about the role of the nurse navigator in developing and implementing an electronic process to measure the delivery of a survivorship care plan. She used a case study from Greenville Health System Cancer Institute in South Carolina—her employer—to illustrate this discussion. Patricia emphasized that when it comes to survivorship care plans, one size doesn’t fit all and urged her navigation colleagues to form partnerships within their organization to assist with the creation of plans. She also noted that navigators must enforce the follow-up schedule within the plan.

In closing, Jennifer asked attendees to “think of the survivorship care plan as a living document and a living experience.”

Value-Based Cancer Care

Tricia Strusowski, MS, RN, Manager, Oncology Solutions, and Sharon S. Gentry, RN, MSN, CBCN, AOCN, ONN-CG, Novant Health Derrick L. Davis Cancer Center, took the stage to talk about value-based care and the importance of the navigation metrics in this area. They took the audience through a brief history of navigation and value-based care—spending some time on the Oncology Care Model and Medical Neighborhoods.

Over the next few years, there will be a significant increase in the number of men and women diagnosed with cancer, shared Tricia. “We have to get this right,” she said. “We have to have better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.”

Sharon then explained how AONN+’s national Standardized Evidence-Based Navigation Metrics can be applied within the community practice setting to create more efficient care, and illustrated the point with a case study about a head and neck program.

Impact of Health Literacy on Outcomes in Patients with Cancer

There’s a distinct difference between general literacy and health literacy, shared Carla Schaefer, BSN, RN, OCN, Associate Director of Nursing Infusion Services, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, during her conference-closing presentation. When a patient’s health literacy is minimal, it can affect their decision-making, disease management, hospitalization rates, emergency department use, and the cost of their healthcare.

According to Carla, by using interventions such as staff education, patient assessment (to understand learning barriers and preferences), and communication strategies (such as teach-back, open-ended questions, and teaching order), navigators can help patients overcome barriers to health literacy.

“Be health literacy heroes,” Carla urged the audience. “You will make a difference.”

Closing

Following the presentations, Sharon S. Gentry, RN, MSN, CBCN, AOCN, ONN-CG, took the stage to thank guests, faculty, and sponsors for participating in AONN+’s Eighth Annual Conference, and invited everyone to join her for the 2018 Midyear Conference to be held May 4-6 at the Westin Boston Waterfront, Boston, Massachusetts.

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