Gastrointestinal Nurse Navigation

Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis in the United States, and the care for patients with GI cancer is multifaceted, with each clinical encounter impacting patients' overall experience. Patients and families often navigate this complicated journey on their own with limited resources and knowledge; therefore, innovative, patient-centered, and quality-focused programs must be developed. The purpose of this article is to discuss the development of GI nurse navigators (NNs) and the important role they have in providing coordinated evidence-based cancer care and in the benchmarking of quality metrics to allow more transparency and improve GI cancer care. This article provides a foundation for developing a GI NN role within the context of a newly developed multidisciplinary GI cancer program, and identifies the importance of tracking specific quality metrics. This innovative model is useful for healthcare organizations and nursing practice because it identifies the importance of a nurse in the navigator role, as well as highlights the numerous functions the NN can provide to the GI multidisciplinary team and patients.

A pilot project of a Post Discharge Care Team for firearm injury survivors decreases emergency department utilization, hospital readmission days, and cost

“…Successful nurse navigator roles are well described in other patient populations that involve multidisciplinary care, including advanced heart failure and oncology 15–17 . In addition, in an orthopedic trauma population, improved follow-up at the first outpatient appointment was seen in patients who received a phone call from a trauma recovery coach 3 days to 5 days after hospital discharge, suggesting that these practices are translatable 26 .…”

“…Successful nurse navigator roles are well described in other patient populations that involve multidisciplinary care, including advanced heart failure and oncology. [15][16][17] In addition, in an orthopedic trauma population, improved follow-up at the first outpatient appointment was seen in patients who received a phone call from a trauma recovery coach 3 days to 5 days after hospital discharge, suggesting that these practices are translatable. 26 These early postdischarge phone calls from health care team members have been shown to identify complications in patients 27,28 and to improve follow-up, 29 further supporting the idea that consistent communication can lead to early intervention and prevention of further, possibly more complicated health issues.…”

“…14 In other multidisciplinary specialties caring for similarly complex patients, patient nurse navigators have been utilized successfully to improve outpatient engagement through increased education, appointment arrangement, and generalized support for disease process understanding. [15][16][17] However, the potential benefits of a patient nurse navigator are less understood in the trauma setting, particularly for those with firearm injury. Our objective was to evaluate patient outcomes after implementation of a Post Discharge Care Team (PDCT) consisting of a dedicated, trauma-specialized nurse navigator and medical social worker to assist in addressing the complex social and resource needs of this patient population.…”

“…In other multidisciplinary specialties caring for similarly complex patients, patient nurse navigators have been utilized successfully to improve outpatient engagement through increased education, appointment arrangement, and generalized support for disease process understanding 15–17 . However, the potential benefits of a patient nurse navigator are less understood in the trauma setting, particularly for those with firearm injury.…”