you’re ready to get back to work,” says
Ms. Fowler.
Baylor Scott & White Cancer
Center in Waco
As a nurse navigator, Margie Corbett lends her patients the
support they need.
Nurse navigator: An advocate
for patients’ needs
“When somebody gets a diagnosis of cancer, their mind
often shuts down for a bit. That’s natural. So they need to
have somebody else in the room who can help schedule
appointments, answer questions and repeat information
the doctor might have told them. Someone that makes
everything a little bit more comfortable,” says Margie
Corbett, RN, a nurse navigator who now works with breast
cancer patients at the Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center
in Waco; the program will expand to other areas of cancer
care as well.
The first time Ms. Corbett talks to a patient is when she
receives a call after an irregular mammogram result.
She is there for the biopsies, sits with her patients as
they receive the results, waits for them in the recovery
room after surgery, goes to oncologist visits and is, most
importantly, always available to answer questions.
“Not every patient needs or wants a nurse navigator. But
for some people, you can really help point them in the right
direction,” she says. She leads formal support groups for
patients at the new cancer center and informal ones with
younger patients, between work and child duties at home.
“A navigator is an advocate—you need to know someone is
pulling for you,” says Ms. Corbett.
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THE CATALYST April 14 | sw.org
The new Baylor Scott & White Cancer
Center in Waco, the first location
to bear the name of the new health
system formed through our merger with
Baylor Health Care System, opened
in November 2013. Here, patients
and their caregivers are thought of as
one unit, each requiring necessary care
and support.
Family members are often just
as distressed by a cancer diagnosis as
patients. They can also have physical,
emotional, practical and spiritual
needs. In response, the center offers
support groups for both patients and
their caregivers alongside counseling,
support services, and financial and
nurse navigators who help families find
the assistance they need. We’re also
bringing in cancer survivors and their
caregivers to share personal stories.
“Our cancer center is a healing
environment for the whole family unit,”
says Joni Watson, director of medical
oncology at the Baylor Scott & White
Cancer Center in Waco. She cites
research that shows that if a caregiver
becomes ill or depressed, a patient’s
healing is often affected.
The 35,000-square-foot center has
almost tripled the number of areas
where patients receive chemotherapy
from eight to 21 infusion chairs, all
overlooking the Healing Garden. The
Baylor Scott & White Cancer Center