Beebe Medical Center nurse encourages people to have cancer screenings

Kathy Cook, MSN, RN, has been appointed cancer screening nurse navigator for Beebe Medical Center. Cook’s primary focus is on improving survival through early diagnosis and treatment.

She does this by encouraging people throughout the community to have cancer screenings done in compliance with American Cancer Society guidelines. She educates people about the importance of screenings for colon, breast, prostate and cervical cancers.

When necessary, she helps people access financial, transportation, translation and other related resources. “We know that people can perhaps have better outcomes if their cancer is diagnosed in an early stage and treatment is started immediately,” she said.

Cook reaches individuals through partnerships with various community organizations, churches and schools. She also has initiated the Early Detection Connection campaign, which reaches out to physicians and offers case-management services to their patients who are in need of screenings they cannot afford. The cancer screening nurse navigator role is part of an outreach effort by the Delaware Cancer Consortium to control and, when possible, eliminate cancer in Delaware.

Cook earned her associate’s degree in nursing and her master’s degree in nursing with a focus on health promotion and wellness from Wesley College in Dover. Before joining Beebe Medical Center, she worked as a nurse at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford and taught courses in nursing at Wesley College.

Cook is based at Tunnell Cancer Center and works closely with the oncology staff. She reports to Judith Ramirez, Ed.D., manager of Tunnell Cancer Center Psychosocial Services and Outreach.

Call Kathy Cook at 302-645-3169, or email her at kcook@bbmc.org