The Efficacy of the Nurse Navigator in a Community Hospital Breast Care Program

Abstract

Breast cancer patients receive multimodality treatment and are informed consumers with high expectations. The breast oncology nurse navigator has become an integral part of the health care team. The navigator responds to individual patient needs by tailoring intervention to personal requirements and facilitating care coordination. This study questioned whether breast cancer patients using navigator services believed them to be helpful, to what degree they thought them helpful, and what they liked or disliked about the program. In a cohort of 530 respondents, 96% stated that the navigator program was helpful compared with 4% who found the program not helpful (P < 0.05). The study ascribed a mean helpfulness score of 9.28 of 10 to the navigator program. An analysis of quantitative data indicated a high level of patient value on individualized support, education, advocacy, and care coordination.