Whether you’re a seasoned navigator looking to be a mentor or a brand-new navigator seeking guidance, the Building Oncology Leadership & Development (BOLD) Mentorship Academy offers a wealth of opportunities for oncology navigators to learn and grow from one another, according to Alison McDaniel, BSN, RN, OCN, ONN-CG, manager of navigation at Ochsner Health System. Ms McDaniel shared her personal experience with the BOLD Mentorship Academy—launched by AONN+ to answer the call for professional development specific to navigation.
What Is BOLD?
BOLD offers an opportunity for navigators to connect with and support each other through mentorship relationships within AONN+. The Academy allows navigators to share best practices and experiences and is centered on a reciprocal learning experience in which all parties, be they mentors or mentees, have something to gain.
“I was a mentor in my experience with the pilot for this program, and I learned just as much as my mentee from it,” she noted.
The Application Process
To participate in the Mentorship Academy, navigators must first submit an application, and according to Ms McDaniel, applicants should be as specific as possible. If applying as a mentee, identify what you want out of the experience and specify your top 3 priorities to ensure a suitable match. If applying as a mentor, honestly highlight your strengths, weaknesses, and areas of expertise in navigation, as this can help to avoid mismatched pairings.
Once matched, participants take the initiative to schedule their first touchpoint meeting (ideally either face-to-face or virtual face-to-face).
“There’s no problem with a phone call, but personally, I need to see someone to really connect with them,” she advised.
Participants will have about 9 months to complete the process, but Ms McDaniel recommends setting up the first meeting as soon as possible, as this initial interaction is crucial for building rapport and setting the foundation for the mentorship.
The First Meeting
Before the first meeting, conducting a quick self-assessment and preparing some icebreaker questions (especially if you’re the mentor) can help ease any initial awkwardness. During this session, it’s essential to define goals for the 9-month mentorship period (make a list of top 3 goals for mentorship, ideally with 1 primary goal), and establish a meeting cadence that is realistic for both parties.
“Establishing your top 3 goals is fine, but I really think 1 is plenty,” she advised. “Nine months is not as long as you think it is.”
Ms McDaniel emphasized the importance of creating a no-judgment, trusting, and “HIPAA-esque” environment where both mentor and mentee can openly discuss their challenges, successes, and frustrations.
“This needs to be a relationship where you can vent, where you can talk about the problems with your program, where you can be honest about successes and brag about yourself, and where you can talk about frustrations with your administration,” she said. “You want to establish that safe space very quickly, because otherwise, how are you going to establish your goals?”
The Mentorship Journey
Ms McDaniel’s mentorship journey began with a 1-hour Zoom meeting with her mentee. “One of the reasons our first touchpoint lasted an hour is because we immediately got along and had each other rolling laughing within the first 15 minutes,” she recalled. “I had gotten matched with a breast navigator, which is what I had hoped for, because it was what I knew; her struggles were so familiar to me.”
Their immediate connection and shared experiences in breast navigation created a strong bond, and they were able to easily identify some of the biggest challenges in the mentee’s role, such as managing multiple physicians working with different electronic medical records and conflicting goals, staffing issues, and certification concerns.
Rather than trying to change external factors beyond their control in a short amount of time, they focused on empowering patients to fight for their own care and navigate themselves independently. Through biweekly meetings, they developed tools to help patients understand and keep track of their own care processes, such as a pre-biopsy booklet and a patient survivorship care plan checklist. They also updated the mentee’s navigation software and embedded these tools within it. These efforts not only improved patient care but also streamlined the mentee navigator’s documentation process and helped her meet her National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers requirements.
Through her experience, Ms McDaniel learned to never underestimate the value of learning about other navigation programs (and making new friends in the process). Importantly, she reminds navigators that the required commitment to the BOLD Mentorship Academy for both mentors and mentees is fairly minimal (with only 5 required touchpoints over 9 months), but the impact on patient care and professional growth can be immeasurable.
Visit aonnonline.org/bold to learn more and apply.
