Latest / Cyrus Webb's tracks / Victoria Wong and Timothy Weimer discuss role of Advanced Practice Providers (APP) in prostate cancer care

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Victoria Wong and Timothy Weimer discuss role of Advanced Practice Providers (APP) in prostate cancer care · Cyrus Webb's tracks

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  Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Conversations Live.
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  Speaker 2: I'm your host, Cyrus Webb. Glad you all could join
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  Speaker 2: us once again.
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  Speaker 1: For our radio audience tuning in in Mississippi at WYAD 94.1
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  Speaker 2: We're glad you all could be with us as well.
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  Speaker 1: This is part of our Music and You segment here
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  Speaker 1: at WYAD. As you guys know, September is recognized among
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  Speaker 1: other things as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
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  Speaker 2: Prostate cancer is one of the most.
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  Speaker 1: Common and deadliest cancers among American men, with more than 333,000
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  Speaker 1: new cases expected this year. While breakthrough treatments are helping
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  Speaker 1: patients live longer, staying on treatment and therapy remains a
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  Speaker 1: critical factor in improving outcomes.
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  Speaker 2: To help with that, advanced practice providers.
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  Speaker 1: Or APPs, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants, They help
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  Speaker 1: patients navigate complex treatment decisions and stay on.
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  Speaker 2: Track with care.
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  Speaker 1: To support that work, Johnson & Johnson and the Advanced
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  Speaker 1: Practitioner Society for Hematology is creating the Make It Happen campaign,
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  Speaker 1: which highlights APPs and their crucial role in cancer care
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  Speaker 1: by providing resources, education, and opportunities to improve patient-centered care
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  Speaker 1: in all settings.
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  Speaker 2: Here to talk to us more about it. We're excited
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  Speaker 2: to welcome Victoria Wong to our broadcast.
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  Speaker 1: She's joining us from Fox Chase Cancer Center, as well
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  Speaker 1: as Timothy Weimer from New Jersey Urology.
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  Speaker 2: Victoria, Timothy, thank you again for stopping by. I really
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  Speaker 2: appreciate it.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for having us.
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  Speaker 1: Such an important topic, and I should also mention for
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  Speaker 1: our audience, next week is National APP Week, so it's
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  Speaker 1: another great reason to to have this conversation.
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  Speaker 2: Victoria, I'll start with you.
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  Speaker 1: As I mentioned, September is recognized as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.
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  Speaker 1: How do APPs collaborate with oncologists when caring for prostate
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  Speaker 1: cancer patients?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you for that question. We're really excited to
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  Speaker 3: be able to partner with Johnson & Johnson so we
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  Speaker 3: can talk about the role of APPs in supporting patients.
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  Speaker 3: So a glimpse into my day-to-day as an APP is
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  Speaker 3: that I work very closely with my doctor and teams
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  Speaker 3: And we take clinical data and use that to help
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  Speaker 3: navigate our patients through different treatment options and through different
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  Speaker 3: treatment decisions. I've learned that it's really important for patients
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  Speaker 3: to not just know what their different treatment options are,
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  Speaker 3: but why is it important? Why are we choosing this?
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  Speaker 3: Why are we recommending this? And patients need to feel
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  Speaker 3: comfortable and confident with their decision. So throughout my day,
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  Speaker 3: I spend a lot of time educating patients talking about
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  Speaker 3: different side effects that they might experience. And when patients
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  Speaker 3: are actually on treatment, I'll see them throughout their journeys
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  Speaker 3: to review labs, order testing, and see if they're having
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  Speaker 3: any issues or side effects.
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  Speaker 1: Tim, I mentioned, and this number is staggering, that over 333,000
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  Speaker 1: new prostate cancer cases are estimated annually.
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  Speaker 2: In our country this year.
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  Speaker 1: What role do you play as a family nurse practitioner
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  Speaker 1: in early detection and also patient education?
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  Speaker 4: I'm a family nurse practitioner. I've been working as a
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  Speaker 4: family nurse practitioner for about 20 plus years at this point.
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  Speaker 4: I'm in a urology setting and it comes down to screening.
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  Speaker 4: We want to educate our patients that they get appropriately
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  Speaker 4: screened for prostate cancer and Simply, that means make sure
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  Speaker 4: they're getting their PSA level done, which is a blood
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  Speaker 4: test called the PSA, which is a prostate-specific antigen number,
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  Speaker 4: and it has values, and those values are 0 to 4.
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  Speaker 4: And importantly, you know, once that level is above 4,
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  Speaker 4: you know, they should be referred to a urologist or
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  Speaker 4: the urology setting so they can get further evaluated. Also
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  Speaker 4: importantly with that number is how quickly it's changing. You know,
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  Speaker 4: that number should relatively stay in a certain range, And
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  Speaker 4: if it's going up too quickly, then that patient or
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  Speaker 4: person should also be sent to urology for further evaluation.
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  Speaker 4: My role there is often I'll have a patient comes
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  Speaker 4: in and he says, I don't know why I'm here.
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  Speaker 2: I was sent because.
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  Speaker 4: My number is off or my number is high or
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  Speaker 4: something is changing with that number. And from there, I
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  Speaker 4: kind of explain to the patient what the PSA is
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  Speaker 4: and then how we go about checking it if anything
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  Speaker 4: is going on. And that typically involves You know, either
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  Speaker 4: repeating blood tests, getting additional tests, or getting imaging studies,
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  Speaker 4: and then deciding on if the patient needs a prostate
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  Speaker 4: biopsy to look for prostate cancer. And then if that
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  Speaker 4: diagnosis is made, then kind of help facilitate their pathway
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  Speaker 4: toward their treatment regimen in getting them into various providers
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  Speaker 4: to assess what kind of the next steps are from
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  Speaker 4: that screening process that we uncovered.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's why this conversation is so important,
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  Speaker 1: so that people understand, for one, not only, of course,
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  Speaker 1: the importance of being tested, but also, of course, knowing
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  Speaker 1: what's available and also their treatment and therapy. Victoria, I
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  Speaker 1: want to ask you, why is it so critical that
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  Speaker 1: prostate cancer patients stay on track with their therapy?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we've learned that it's very important to stay on
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  Speaker 3: track or adhere to their therapy because this does provide
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  Speaker 3: the best possible outcomes for patients. So even though there
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  Speaker 3: has been so much progress in the field, that actually
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  Speaker 3: leads to more complexities when we're navigating your treatment options.
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  Speaker 3: Patients are coming in with so much more information and
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  Speaker 3: questions now, whether they've obtained these questions and information from friends, family,
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  Speaker 3: the internet. So as APPs, we want to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that we are supporting them and we are communicating with
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  Speaker 3: them throughout this journey. because we do play a key
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  Speaker 3: role in helping patients understand and feel confident and feel
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  Speaker 3: like they have a say. In order for patients to
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  Speaker 3: stay on the treatment, they have to understand why they
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  Speaker 3: are taking something and understand how to take something. So
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  Speaker 3: we have to make sure that we're addressing any questions
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  Speaker 3: or concerns that may affect them from adhering to their treatments.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Tim.
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  Speaker 1: I mentioned, of course, that National APP Week is coming up.
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  Speaker 1: What message would you want the broader healthcare community to
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  Speaker 1: understand about the APP role and the value of mentorship?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, so importantly, you know, for patients, we want to
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  Speaker 4: make sure that, you know, they're aware we're here, right?
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  Speaker 4: So most providers and practices now will be utilizing APPs
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  Speaker 4: in their practices. You know, and we serve as a
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  Speaker 4: resource for patients. You know, we're here for them. We're
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  Speaker 4: that bridge between therapies and things that they need to
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  Speaker 4: know and concerns that they have. So, you know, when
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  Speaker 4: patients have issues, it's often the APPs who will help
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  Speaker 4: deal with them. And you want to make sure that,
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  Speaker 4: you know, you're reaching out to your advanced practice providers
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  Speaker 4: because we often can provide the time to these patients
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  Speaker 4: and help them along in their course and also help
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  Speaker 4: them maintain therapy.
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  Speaker 2: And importantly, as.
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  Speaker 4: Cancer is evolving and as therapies evolve, there's going to
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  Speaker 4: be more and more of a need for APPs, and
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  Speaker 4: that's why it's so important for us to continue to
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  Speaker 4: utilize APPs and make sure they're properly educated and they
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  Speaker 4: have the fundamentals behind them to give good patient care
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  Speaker 4: as new providers occur.
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  Speaker 1: I really appreciate the two of you stopping by today
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  Speaker 1: to share this information about this very important topic. Victoria,
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  Speaker 1: where can our audience go to learn more information?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I would definitely encourage the audience to go to
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  Speaker 3: the website, appsmakeithappen.com. So that's app, with an S, makeithappen.com.
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  Speaker 3: Here we have different resources and education, not just for
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  Speaker 3: healthcare providers, but also for patients, caregivers, and those who
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  Speaker 3: just want to learn more.
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  Speaker 2: And we'll link that up as well. Victoria, Tim, thank
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  Speaker 2: you again for the time. Really appreciate it. Looking forward
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  Speaker 2: to our next chat together.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. And we thank your.
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  Speaker 1: Audience for tuning in to another great segment of Conversations Live. Again,
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  Speaker 1: part of a music and music segment here at WYAD.
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  Speaker 2: Until next time, I'm your host, Cyrus Webster.
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  Speaker 1: And as always, enjoy your day, enjoy your life, enjoy
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  Speaker 1: your world.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for being with us here at Conversations Live.
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  Speaker 2: And let's go make today amazing. Take care.