Nurse navigators are guides through the cancer journey

A cancer diagnosis is often the scariest moment of a patient's life.  Fear about what they're about to face can be overwhelming for patients, not just the treatment but also how it will impact their work and personal responsibilities, how much it will cost, and how long the treatment will take.  Life seems tossed in the air, with the pieces coming down in different spots than before.  This is why we feel it's essential for patients to have a guide from the very beginning of their cancer journey. 

At Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, this is where the nurse navigator comes in.  Nurse navigators first meet with patients along with the radiologist, to provide the pathology results from the biopsy.  The news is often shocking and always upsetting and we as nurse navigators help them pick up the pieces and make sense of the news they have just been given. 

We provide a Breast Cancer Treatment Handbook to every cancer patient, a great resource of information that explains treatment options in simple terms.  We help patients make initial appointments with the physicians who will treat them.  We also provide information about support and educational resources at our hospital and in the surrounding community.  They are so many ways for women to get support and not feel alone, and we help each woman as an individual, based on her needs and her own way of dealing with her cancer.  Some patients want every resource for support possible and others are simply comforted knowing a nurse navigator is just a phone call away if they need us. 

The nurse navigators help patients connect with their treatment team and remain available for patients throughout their cancer treatment journey and on into survivorship.  We work with their friends, family and/or caregivers to make sure they are also supported.  Cancer doesn’t just impact the patient; patients and caregivers need the support of people around them who love them to help them make it through difficult days. 

Patients often tell us the support from the nurse navigators made the challenging process easier on them.  But that’s just our job:  to be by their side helping guide them through their cancer journey.

Cathy Spagnoli, MSHA, RN, CBCN, CBPN-IC

Nurse Navigator

Jennifer Tepper, MSN, APN, CBCN, CNS

Nurse Navigator