The nurse navigator concept is a relatively new one, and the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center was one of the pioneers. When Tsipouras joined UConn Health in 2012, a concept was all it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a brand new role here,\u201d Tsipouras recalls. \u201cThey hired me, and they said, \u2018Figure it out. We don\u2019t know exactly what it is, but look into it.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, there were maybe two other nurse navigators in the whole country. I called them, and they were just developing it too, and nobody really knew what it was or what to do with it. And since then, it\u2019s everywhere now, at every big cancer center.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillinghast\u2019s role was well established when she arrived in 2016. She\u2019s not a nurse, and neither were her predecessors. Hers is a grant-funded position at the American Cancer Society, and she\u2019s embedded at UConn Health.<\/p>\n \u201cAmber is amazing as the liaison with the navigation,\u201d Tsipouras says. \u201cWhen I\u2019m done with all the medical stuff with them and I\u2019ve talked to them a little bit about their barriers, then she comes in and helps them with anything from meals that the patient may need at home while they\u2019re getting treatment, to wig fittings when they\u2019re getting treatment, to any type of supportive services ACS offers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re like the supportive service team,\u201d Tillinghast says. \u201cThe nurse navigators are amazing, answering all types of questions, medical, social needs, and then we all just kind of link in to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019re also extra sets of eyes, both able to refer patients to services such as dietary, social work, or psychiatry when appropriate.<\/p>\n Other resources include books to help patients speak to their children about what\u2019s happening, information on support groups for patients and spouses, and the American Cancer Society\u2019s Personal Health Manager, a binder for patients to organize important information for their care.<\/p>\n Tillinghast\u2019s office is on the fourth floor of the Outpatient Pavilion, readily accessible to patients in the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients will come into my office to talk, maybe they\u2019ve had a really rough visit, maybe they were just diagnosed,\u201d Tilllinghast says. \u201cIt\u2019s just an extra hand for them to hold as they go through this, being an ear to listen, and then with that, being able to help direct them.\u201d<\/p>\n Tsipouras will accompany patients on their crucial visits.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll bring patients in through radiology when they have a suspicious finding, counsel them on the suspicious finding, talk to them about the biopsy, and when the results come back as cancer, we then get them in with the breast surgeon or the medical oncologist, and we meet with them for their first visit to educate them,\u201d Tsipouras says. \u201cWe talk about barriers the patient may have to treatment, to meet with their families, educate their families. We talk about child care, transportation, job, any time that they\u2019re going to need off. We talk about symptom management, if they\u2019re having pain, if they\u2019re having any side effects from the medication.\u201d<\/p>\n And then it\u2019s Tillinghast who helps with those nonmedical concerns \u2013 \u201cthe TLC stuff that you need when you\u2019re being treated for cancer,\u201d as Tsipouras puts it. Tillinghast regularly checks in with patients in the infusion room, and that regular contact with patients can go a long way.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s those things that didn\u2019t necessarily come up in their first few visits when they were with a nurse navigator, that as time goes on throughout treatment they\u2019re like, \u2018You know what, the bills are really piling up,\u2019\u201d Tillinghast says.<\/p>\n \u201cAmber makes it easier for us to take care of the patients,\u201d Tsipouras says. \u201cAmber sees them on a day-to-day basis, which, when you\u2019re going through cancer, the more support you have, the better you can get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the diagnosis, the navigators guide the patients through the health care system, which can be overwhelming.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re helping them understand why they\u2019re meeting a medical oncologist, helping them get through to different people to get their appointments scheduled, making sure they have their next appointment set up,\u201d Tsipouras says. \u201cThe system itself can be a barrier in terms of patients not knowing how to navigate it.\u201d<\/p>\n Tsipouras carries a dedicated phone for breast cancer patients, which helps break down an accessibility barrier when patients have questions or need direction. Patients receive that number as well as Tillinghast\u2019s.<\/p>\n UConn Health has three other nurse navigators on staff<\/a>:<\/p>\n![\"Amber](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/20160928_145628-Navigator-and-patient-300x180.jpg\")
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