Mercy Cancer Services
Nurse Navigators
Imagine after a long day at work, you decide it’s
time to take a trip. Without maps, preparation or so much as an oil
change, you gas up your car and head for Alaska.
You are alone on the road without any notion of
which way to turn, what road to take next or what’s just ahead. Now
imagine a visit to your doctor’s office with the deafening news, “You
have cancer.” There’s no sound after that. The only word echoing through
you is “cancer.”
All the information you need to know is lost after
you hear that six-letter word. There you are with no road map, no clue
where to turn, no idea what to do next.
That’s when Mercy’s nurse navigator, Lara Gaston,
RN, BSN—steps in and helps lead cancer patients through the labyrinth of
twists and turns.
She has researched the best resources and
information so you don’t have to. She's done the legwork so you can
focus on fighting the cancer. When there’s a question, she’ll find the
answer, or direct you to someone who can.
“Many times I talk with the spouse after talking to
the patient,” says Lara. “As happens so often, the patient hears the
word ‘cancer’ and their mind shuts off. Every cancer patient and family
member wants to know the next step, who they should see next and where
they can get financial help. That’s what navigation is—trying to get a
plan laid out so the patient and family feel like they have some kind of
control when their world has just been toppled with a new diagnosis.”
Nurse navigators are a new concept, but critical to
help connect the
dots for cancer patients. Every cancer patient faces a different journey. No
two cancer patients’ journeys look alike, and that’s why nurse
navigators quickly become an invaluable resource for cancer
patients.
To contact Mercy’s nurse navigator, call Lara at (405) 752-3388, at Mercy Cancer Resource Center.
|
