EP7-3 Family Thank You to Nurse Navigator

EP7-3 Family Thank You to Nurse Navigator

December 08, 2010 3:17 AM

To: Nygaard, Gina (Manager)

Cc: Bruens, Dennis (Director)

Subject: Nursing Navigator -- Susan Anderson

Hello Ms. Nygaard and Mr. Bruens,

I am writing this letter on behalf of my mother and our entire family.

We discovered my mother has her fourth brain tumor earlier this year. Because of her age, we have very few options. I contacted the Cyber Knife department at Penrose Cancer Center. I left my contact info and was later contacted by Susan Anderson.

Susan was amazing. She helped me find doctors that worked within my parents insurance network, got my mom accommodations at the John Zay house, answered any and all questions, always returned phone calls quickly, etc. We've dealt with many hospital's over the years with my mom's surgeries. This was the first time we were ever treated as people instead of a number. Our family learned more about my mother's brain tumor in our first meeting with Susan and Dr. Monroe, than we have ever gotten in the many years we have been battling the cancer.

We had never heard of nursing navigators before this experience. After having the opportunity to work with Susan, I wanted to let you know what an absolutely wonderful experience it has been. It's always difficult when you have a loved one needing care. The compassion, we were shown was overwhelming. The information and knowledge we were given, helped us make an informed decision. With my mother's previous surgeries we felt like we were along for the ride and kept in the dark.

Thank you so much for having Susan Anderson on staff. Thank you for recognizing the need for this type of patient care. Thank you for helping make a difficult situation easier on the patient and the entire family.