Nurse navigators increased the chances of patients completing colorectal cancer screenings, Clinical Advisor reports.
A study in the Journal of Cancer Education examined CRC screening rates in a cohort of patients who were paired with nurse navigators. About 110 patients were randomized evenly into groups, which went through the screening process alone or with a nurse navigator.
Three months from baseline, 81.8 percent of the nurse navigator group completed fecal occult blood tests and 14.5 percent of the group completed colonoscopies. Only 9.1 percent of the non-navigated cohort completed an FOBT and only 3.6 percent completed a colonoscopy. The results remained similar at six months for both cohorts.
Researchers concluded, "After this program, it was found that CRC screening participation rates were significantly higher in the nurse-navigated group than in the nonnavigated group."