Dear Navigators,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this issue of JONS, the official publication of the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+). The Academy just held its East Coast Regional Meeting in New Orleans, LA, and it was a great success. The opportunity to meet with our fellow navigators to exchange ideas is invaluable to the continued growth and advancement of our field.
The concept for this journal and the Academy was born out of the need to expand navigation programs across our country in the hope of improving patient outcomes through our ability to remove barriers to care. We will continue to address these barriers and strategies to overcome them. In addition to exploring the value of navigation programs, we will expand our content to include breakthroughs in oncology care that may impact your patient population.
To that end, we are launching a new department called Interview with the Innovators. The world of navigation is a complex one that includes all phases of cancer care from community outreach through long-term survivorship or end-of-life care and everything in between. JONS seeks out the leaders in the oncology community to bring you their game-changing strategies, missions, and impact on patient navigation. For the inaugural installment of Interview with the Innovators, our publishers chose to interview me! I was delighted to share my thoughts about the current role of the navigator in positively impacting care for oncology patients and the future for the profession.
This issue also offers an original research article, “The Impact of Patient Navigation in Low-Dose Computed Tomography Lung Screening,” and 2 learning guides addressing operations management and the coordination of care to prepare you for our upcoming certification test. You’ll find other useful information such as a clinical trials tracker for patients with kidney cancer as well as news from around the oncology community.
Finally, please mark your calendars for our AONN+ Annual Meeting in fabulous Las Vegas, November 17-20, 2016, Register today. I look forward to being with you for learning, networking, and time for fun!
Sincerely,
Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS
Editor-in-Chief
University Distinguished Service Associate Professor of Breast Cancer, Depts of Surgery and Oncology; Administrative Director, The Johns Hopkins Breast Center; Director, Cancer Survivorship Programs at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins;
Professor, JHU School of Medicine, Depts of Surgery, Oncology & Gynecology and Obstetrics;
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
