The patient navigation course is designed to help health care providers apply principles of navigation throughout the cancer care continuum. Case studies are used to help discuss issues that patients may face during cancer care. The course includes tools and strategies in communication, patient teaching and education to address complex informational, physical and psychosocial needs of patients and families. The process to improve access for indigenous communities, ethno-cultural and gender groups is emphasized.

Course Syllabus

Course Objectives  

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• List the domains of need, and apply to patients and families across the cancer trajectory
• Identify disease specific patient care pathways to facilitate patient navigation
• Apply the FIFE interview tool to elicit the patient perspectives
• Apply teach-back and other methods to facilitate a patient’s understanding of materials
• Apply a patient-centred approach to assessment using tools such as ESAS-r, Canadian Problem Checklist, and Symptom Management Guidelines to provide consistent physical, psychosocial, and practical patient assessments
• Describe spiritual assessment tools to use in clinical practice
• Identify challenges in health information communication due to low literacy and/or health literacy
• Explain how to develop and evaluate patient education materials for readability
• Recognize factors that contribute to a cancer patient’s emotional distress, and develop a treatment plan and interventions to support the patient and family
• Recognize social determinants of health and their influence on wellbeing
• Describe cultural safety as it pertains to First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FNIM) peoples
• Provide examples of effective support for patients with a language barrier
• Identify social supports and resources in your community to share with patients/families/caregivers

Course Requirements

To receive a certificate and a 0.5 credit toward a de Souza designation, participants are required to complete the following:

1. Complete a pre-course evaluation
2. Complete all section case studies and forum discussions
3. Complete final assignment
4. Complete post-course evaluation

Time Commitment: Approximately 3 to 4 hours per week.

Course Syllabus: View the course syllabus

Eligibility

This course is available to RNs and RPNs and indigenous navigators.

Payment must be received by December 23, 2025.  For more information, please visit our Cancellation & No Show Policy.

Participants can pay for this course online with a credit card, or send a cheque to: