Nurse navigators:
Guiding cancer patients through the care system
When Faye Peters of Lancaster felt minor discomfort in her rib cage, it never crossed her mind that it might
be advanced lung cancer.
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Faye Peters of Lancaster has been able to live her
life to the fullest as she battles lung cancer,
thanks in part to the guidance she receives from a
nurse navigator at Lancaster General. |
“Getting that news… it’s hard to describe,” Faye says. “You just never think it’s going to happen to you.”
Her cancer had reached Stage 4… too advanced for surgery. Suddenly, Faye had to make a lot of important decisions:
What were her treatment options? Where did she need to go? Who should she see next? How soon did she need to schedule the next appointment?
Fortunately, Faye has someone by her side to help steer her in the right direction and make sure she gets the treatments she needs in a timely manner—a nurse navigator.
Faye’s doctor connected her with Amy Jo Pixley, BSN, RN, an oncology nurse navigator at Lancaster General Cancer Center. Amy Jo’s role is to help Faye understand the often complex information regarding lung cancer and her treatment and to make sure she doesn’t miss an important step.
“I connect patients with community resources, help them establish a support structure with family and friends, and I watch for any changes in their condition,” says Amy Jo. “My job is to provide education and support to our patients.”
“She’s just wonderful,” Faye says. “She came with me to my first meeting with the oncologist and really helped explain things to me. There is never a negative atmosphere with her, or with anyone involved with my treatment.
She’s a big part of why I’m able to maintain a positive and upbeat attitude.”
“The Lancaster General Hospital cancer team is pleased that Mrs. Peters has done well and that the lung cancer nurse navigator program has made a difference in her survival,” says Randall Oyer, MD, Program Director, Lancaster General Cancer Program.
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As she continues her lung cancer treatments,
Faye (seated) has found support and care
from Amy Jo Pixley (standing), nurse
navigator at Lancaster General. |
“Nurse navigators like Amy Jo are valuable in the treatment of cancer,” adds Margaret Davitt-Harris, Administrative Director, Oncology Service Line and Research.
“Treatment of lung cancer is very complex and getting through the system can take a long time without help,” says G. Thomas O’Conor, Jr., MD, a member of Hematology/Oncology Physicians of Lancaster, a Lancaster General Medical Group practice. “Nurse navigators help us get proper treatment to the patients as early as we can.”
More than a year after her diagnosis, Faye still feels good and enjoys many of the activities she’s always enjoyed, like singing in her church choir, swimming, aerobics, visiting her children and grandchildren, volunteering with residents at nursing homes and gardening with her husband of 52 years, Gene.
By remaining active, and with the support of family, friends and her healthcare team, Faye doesn’t let lung cancer define her. But she doesn’t hide it from others, either. “Telling people that I have lung cancer is very therapeutic to me,” Faye says. “I want them to know about it, but that I’m still living my life.”
Faye was a smoker until she quit before gallbladder surgery 11 years ago, and decided to remain smoke-free.
“Most of the lung cancer patients we see are smokers or former smokers,” Amy Jo says, although they do see a few cases where asbestos or prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke was a factor. “The risk of lung cancer drops when you stop smoking, but it does not go away.”
“Physicians caring for people with lung cancer do strongly recommend that they stop smoking as quickly as possible,” says Jeffrey Eshleman, MD, radiation oncologist. “People tolerate their treatment much better and with fewer side effects when they are no longer smoking. They also have better lung reserve and their breathing is improved when their lungs begin to heal from the effects of cigarettes. Smoking cessation also decreases the chance of getting a second smoking-related cancer.”
Lancaster General sponsors programs to help smokers quit and stay smokefree, as this remains the most effective way to avoid the second most commonly diagnosed cancer. Freedom from Smoking is a six-week program to help adults who want to quit smoking, and the Smoke-Free Friends Group meets
monthly to help smokers support one another and stay smoke-free.
Nurse navigators are a key part of the multi-disciplinary lung cancer program at Lancaster General comprised of several doctors coordinating their efforts to help find the most effective treatment
for patients.
“We also have two nurse navigators who have been working for six years to help care for our breast cancer patients,”
Dr. Oyer says. “As we take the next steps with our cancer program development, we will add additional nurse navigators to help patients coming to us for treatment of other cancers as well.”
Faye is grateful that her treatment has allowed her to continue living her life to the fullest. “Today I mostly have no discomfort, and I consider myself to be very lucky and fortunate for that,” she says.
“Under the circumstances, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” Faye says.
For more information about our smoking cessation programs, call (800) 341-2121,
24 hours a day. You can find out more about Lancaster General nurse navigators by calling Margaret Davitt-Harris at 544-4937.
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