Karen Masino on Building a Survivorship Program

Karen Masino, MS, CNP, ACNP-BC, AOCNP, RN, RD, LDN, Cancer Nurse Navigator, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, discusses the importance of training and education in the construction of a cancer survivorship program.

To build a successful survivorship program, collaboration is needed between those who provide the resources to develop the program and those involved in providing patient care. Overall, a successful survivorship program should include those involved in administrative support, directors, vice presidents, physicians, and ancillary staff. It is important to include everyone involved in the process, especially those who may have an opportunity to provide direct education and support services to survivors.

Masino adds that it is important to get people who have been properly trained and educated on the needs of cancer survivors. She adds that it is easy assume that working with cancer patients provides the needed training but that is not always the case.