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Prostate centre in Regina adds nurse 'navigator' to help guide patients

A health care specialist, dubbed a nurse navigator, is now helping patients in the Regina Qu'Appelle region as they go through the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Based at the Prostate Assessment Centre at the Pasqua Hospital, nurse Mikki Robicheau will support and educate patients who are sent to the program by their family doctor.

Robicheau can answer questions about a procedure for detection of prostate cancer — a biopsy — as well as assist patients who are diagnosed by discussing the treatment options recommended by doctors.

"The value is time," Robicheau said Wednesday as the health region made note of Prostate Awareness month. "I'm able to sit down with patients and, on their time … answer any of their questions."

Health officials also noted Wednesday that patients in the region will now follow a standardized procedure around prostate cancer detection and treatment, a move that could lead to earlier diagnosis for some.

"Now, a GP — the family doctor — can directly refer a patient for a biopsy instead of coming to a specialist first," Dr. Edward Tse, a Regina urologist, pointed out. Previously, the time frame to see a specialist, depending on the circumstances, can be two to four weeks.

"We save a lot of time."

Tse also spoke about the value of having a nurse navigator provide timely information to patients and families, which can ease some of the anxiety associated with a diagnosis of cancer.

Steve Pillipow knows of the experience first hand, having faced the news that he had prostate cancer in 1995.

"It was devastating," he said. "You don't really think well."

Pillipow went on to become involved in patient advocacy and has contributed to the development of new protocols. He, too, praised the role of dedicated nurse.

"A nurse navigator … will take you through much of what I call the puzzlement that was there before," Pillipow said.

The Prostate Assessment Centre was launched in 2009 and Dr. Tse said further refinements are expected.

"I don't think this is the end of it," he said, noting that the medical community has recently been examining the value of intense follow up to some current tests. "We will, as time goes on, we'll look into proper follow up for the patients."

According to officials, the region's program follows urologist-approved guidelines for family physicians and the nurse navigator.

In Saskatchewan last year an estimated 690 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men.