Parrish Medical Center Nurse Marsha Richardson Honored as 2013 Certified Breast Cancer Navigator of the Year

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The award was presented at the Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS) Annual Congress in Washington, DC.

Marsha Richardson, RN, MSN, OCN, CBCN was honored at the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) Recognition Breakfast as the 2013 CBCN of the Year on April 26, 2013, in Washington, DC.

Richardson has been the Oncology Program Coordinator/Breast Cancer Navigator at Parrish Medical Center (PMC) in Titusville, Fla. for the past five years. She has been a nurse for 24 years, all of it in oncology nursing. As the oncology program coordinator/clinical nurse specialist, Richardson is an educational resource. She guides women through the intricacies of the healthcare system when they have a breast cancer diagnosis and need her most. She also mentors nurses through leadership, knowledge, skills, and behavior modeling to influence practice. She is the only Certified Breast Cancer Navigator in Brevard County and facilitates resources and programs to all cancer survivors. She received her CBCN certification two years ago.

Richardson was recognized during the awards breakfast at the Oncology Nursing Society’s (ONS) Annual Congress in Washington, DC. The ONS is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world with over 35,000 registered nurses and other healthcare providers dedicated to excellence in patient care, education, research, and administration in oncology nursing. This year’s conference had more than 3,500 attendees representing 28 countries. Other award recipients were from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Richardson’s devotion to breast cancer care led Parrish Medical Center to earn The Joint Commission Disease-Specific Certification Gold Seal for Breast Health. Not only is she committed to encouraging oncology nurses to become certified, but she has implemented quality improvement initiatives that resulted in dramatic reductions in the time a woman waits from screening mammography to diagnostic mammography to a definitive diagnosis.

Richardson is an active member of the Brevard ONS chapter, serves on the Brevard County board of directors for the American Cancer Society, and has obtained more than $75,000 in grants from the Susan Komen Foundation to provide care for under- and uninsured women in the community.

“As an oncology nurse, we can affect—and perhaps even change—people’s lives. But sometimes it’s the patient that changes ours,” stated Richardson. “I need only go to work to be inspired by the attitudes, strength and perseverance that my patients show every day. The patients are amazing and gracious, and I am very fortunate to be involved in their care.”

Richardson received recognition from the community, the Jess Parrish Medical Foundation, and the American Cancer Society. The nominators wrote, “Marsha has the ability to lead clinical nursing practice with the utmost enthusiasm, compassion, and professionalism. She has spent countless hours educating the oncology nurses in our community, and will come to work at 5 a.m. to meet a patient undergoing a surgical procedure.”

WFTV