Patients with breast cancer diagnosis have a new resource at the UConn Health Center.

Molly Budds recently joined the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center as its breast nurse navigator. She described her role with Health Center Today.

What is a nurse navigator?

A nurse navigator helps patients make their way through the health care maze throughout their diagnosis and treatment. As the UConn Health Center’s breast nurse navigator, I work with patients who’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer. I’m a registered nurse with a certification in oncology. I am a full time UConn Health Center employee with an office in the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center but I am able to meet with patients when they are inpatient or outpatient.

Why the need?

Many patients were getting lost in follow-up care and finding it hard to contact a provider to get their questions answered. Working with a nurse navigator allows patients to have constant access to a medical professional who can direct them on anything from how to get to the hospital to what an abnormal lab value means to how to handle the nausea after chemotherapy.

What is the expense to the patient?

There is no cost to the patient for this service.

How does a patient connect the nurse navigator?

There is a direct breast referral phone that I carry with me during business hours: 860-480-1981.

How often is the nurse navigator in touch with the patient?

Patients can call that line anytime and I will talk to them immediately or call them back that same day. After a new diagnosis of cancer I usually speak with the patient every other day or gauge how often that patient seems to need support.

What are some things patients should NOT expect the nurse navigator to do?

I cannot write prescriptions and will not be the nurse administering medications or changing dressings.

What should the patient do to get the most out of her time with the nurse navigator?

The benefit of working with a nurse navigator is that there is never any pressure or rush put on the patients during their visits and if they forget something to ask the nurse navigator when they are with her they can always call the breast referral line later when they think of it.

More information about breast cancer treatment at the UConn Health Center is available at http://cancer.uchc.edu/treatment/services/breastcancer.html. The Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center also has a full-time patient navigator, made possible by William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage and Insurance, and the American Cancer Society.

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