Kami has been employed at Aspirus Riverview Hospital in Wisconsin Rapids, WI for 23 years. During these years, She has held Assistant Director of Nursing and Interim Director of Nursing positions for the Medical/Surgical/Pediatric floor, along with being a staff and charge nurse for MSP and a House Supervisor.
Her first love has always been direct patient care and after her management time she returned to bedside care which brought her to the Interventional Radiology position she currently has. She has been an I.R. nurse for 2 years in March and she absolutely loves the new experiences and challenges I.R. nursing has to offer. She also currently fill in as a House Supervisor when needed.
It was her Imaging Director who first reached out shortly after she accepted the I.R. position regarding my becoming a certified breast patient navigator. She immediately jumped at the opportunity of helping our breast cancer patients navigate their treatment course. Her Director sent her up to their primary hospital in Wausau, WI to shadow and meet with the certified breast patient navigators at Aspirus Wausau Hospital’s Women’s Health Center. She has made some connections with those nurses who have been an invaluable resource to me as she learns to become a certified breast patient navigator.
She completed the on-line BPNC course prior to March 2020 with the plan at that time to attend the conference in Las Vegas, but then Covid restrictions caused the conference to be cancelled. She became a member of NCBC on April 30th, 2021, and looks forward to continuing with membership through your organization.
She will be taking the breast patient navigator certification exam for the first time following this year’s virtual conference.
Though she is not currently certified, she participates in every stereotactic and ultra sound breast biopsy procedure our facility has on the days she is scheduled to work. Along with being present for the biopsy to comfort and distract the patient, she also applies the dressing and complete all necessary discharge instructions with the patient.
She currently keeps a confidential spread sheet of all of our breast biopsy patients including, but not limited to, biopsy date, results and when patient is notified of them, surgery date and surgeon. She makes a day-one post procedure call to each patient to discuss their comfort level, ask them about bleeding/infection, and remind them about incision management. Each patient is provided verbal and written discharge instructions which have the direct number to the I.R. nurse office.
There has never been a certified breast patient navigator at Aspirus Riverview Hospital (at least not in the 23 years she have worked here) and many aspects of the breast navigation process has yet to be established. She looks forward to communicating more with local PCPs and surgeons regarding the direction she could assist their breast patients with following a cancer diagnosis. Her Director has encouraged her to obtain certification prior to reaching out to local PCPs/surgeons, but to also take every opportunity before certification to learn, assist patients and make connections with other breast patient navigators.
Thank you to all who applied and know that you all are very important in helping patients during their journey.
And A Special Thank You to Magview®
