breast nurse

Posted by exco at 3:01 AM

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(plucky music) - my name is patricia o'brien and i am the breast nurse navigator here at middlesex hospital cancer center. i've been a nurse for many years. i'm oncology certified and i'm also a certified breast care nurse. nurse navigation is a rolethat was born out of a need. today, many patients,cancer patients especially,

have their care providedon an out-patient basis. years ago, patients wereadmitted to the hospital, many times the nightbefore, for their surgery, and all their needs weremet by the hospital staff. they had their doctors, their nurses, the dietitian, the social worker, everyone within the hospital system. today, many patients have their surgery and their other proceduresdone as an outpatient,

which poses a lot of new challenges. when a woman is firstdiagnosed with breast cancer, it's a time of great uncertainty and fear of the unknown. one of the first things i do is set up some consult appointments. we need to get the surgeon on board, the radiation oncologist, the oncologist. we need to mobilize the team we have here

at the middlesex hospital cancer center to begin the patient's care. the other thing we do isreview the surgical options that have been presented to the patient. breast patients oftentimes are given more than one option for care. this can be veryconfusing and overwhelming for the patient, asthey're afraid to choose the incorrect option.

it's my job to reviewthe pros and cons of each and what the implications are of each one. the middlesex hospital cancer center is large enough that we are able to provide the patientswith all of the advanced technology that is available today, but we're small enoughthat our physician group and our cancer care providers have open lines of communication.

because middlesex hospital cancer center was one of the leaders in establishing a nurse navigation program, we feel it has benefitedour patients in many ways. we have 100% referral rate to our breast nurse navigator program from our surgeons and otherphysicians in the area, which means every patientdiagnosed here at middlesex is referred to the breastcare management program.

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