{"id":1285,"date":"2021-05-07T14:19:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T04:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2021-05-07T14:19:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T04:19:44","slug":"nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/newsletters\/news-at-the-royal\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams","title":{"rendered":"Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-column-wrapper-legacy\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><div id=\"attachment_1281\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1281\" class=\"wp-image-1281 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2021\/05\/anja-b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 400px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 400\/600;\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1281\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Anja Christoffersen<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Nurse Navigators are vital members of the RBWH team, helping patients with complex health conditions coordinate their healthcare and providing extra support where they need it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>RBWH patient Anja Christoffersen is just one of the many patients who can attest to the incredible work of our Nurse Navigators.<\/p>\n<p>Anja was born with VACTERL Association, an acronym that describes a cluster of birth defects affecting multiple body systems. The disease affects just 1 in 10,000 to 40,000 newborns and there is no known cause or guarantee of survival. While VACTERL Association can differ from person-to-person, Anja was born with a number of complexities including a hole in the heart, one kidney, oesophageal atresia whereby there is no join to the stomach, causing food, water and saliva to go directly into her lungs, a half-formed vertebra, a complex anorectal malformation causing only one pelvic opening, and duplicated reproductive organs.<\/p>\n<p>Diagnosed at 28 weeks of her mother\u2019s pregnancy, Anja received the first of many surgical interventions at just five hours old and has had 35 surgeries since then. Since she became an adult patient at RBWH, numerous teams across various areas are involved in her care when she visits the hospital up to three times a week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDue to the complexity of my condition and the diverse symptoms I experience, I need to see a range of different specialists regularly,\u201d Anja said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t thank the doctors, nurses and other staff involved in my care enough \u2013 they all incredible. However, it can be overwhelming trying to manage all of my different appointments and the preparation and recovery that goes with them. That\u2019s where my Nurse Navigator Rebecca Johnson comes in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI started working with her in 2020 and it has changed my life. She essentially project manages my health.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Royal Brisbane and Women\u2019s Hospital Nurse Navigator Rebecca Johnson said that for busy and ambitious people like Anja, they don\u2019t have time to be managing countless appointments and visiting their GP multiple times a month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnja\u2019s health condition affects her every single day. For people with such complex health needs, having a single point of contact to link everything up is vital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMedical appointments can sometimes be stressful and emotional, so I sit in with Anja to act as a second pair of ears and support her where she needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am also available at any time to answer questions and assist if something goes wrong, In general, I help keep everything tracking along in the right direction which keeps the pressure off Anja so she can focus on living her life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anja is currently perusing many roles and was awarded the Queensland Young Achiever of the Year Leadership Award for 2020. She works as a motivational speaker, model, manages her family business in international student recruitment, and has recently commenced using her experience as a long-term patient to help improve consumer experiences at RBWH.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s important not to let your circumstances define you. That\u2019s probably my main message to anyone living with disability,\u201d said Anja.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nurse Navigators are vital members of the RBWH team, helping patients with complex health conditions coordinate their healthcare and providing extra support where they need it.<br \/>\nRBWH patient Anja Christoffersen is just one of the many patients who can attest to the incredible work of our Nurse Navigators. The 22-year-old international model, author and businesswoman has been facing a constant medical battle since the day she was born, but thanks to her Nurse Navigator she has been able to gain time back in her life to pursue her dreams. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[194],"class_list":["post-1285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-at-the-royal","tag-rbwh"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams - Staff Extranet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams - Staff Extranet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nurse Navigators are vital members of the RBWH team, helping patients with complex health conditions coordinate their healthcare and providing extra support where they need it. RBWH patient Anja Christoffersen is just one of the many patients who can attest to the incredible work of our Nurse Navigators. The 22-year-old international model, author and businesswoman has been facing a constant medical battle since the day she was born, but thanks to her Nurse Navigator she has been able to gain time back in her life to pursue her dreams.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Staff Extranet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-07T04:19:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/staff-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2021\/05\/anja-b.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Douglas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams\",\"name\":\"Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams - Staff Extranet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-07T04:19:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/#\/schema\/person\/6241315e6c100bcb4ae5d93145b0cf8b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/uncategorized\/nurse-navigator-helps-rbwh-patient-follow-her-dreams#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/\",\"name\":\"Staff Extranet\",\"description\":\"Metro North Health\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/#\/schema\/person\/6241315e6c100bcb4ae5d93145b0cf8b\",\"name\":\"Douglas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/metronorth.health.qld.gov.au\/extranet\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/486f2d536781072b69aeef6b235a11580b49612320cc6ed0449b7431b9cf05e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/486f2d536781072b69aeef6b235a11580b49612320cc6ed0449b7431b9cf05e6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Douglas\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams - Staff Extranet","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nurse Navigator helps RBWH patient follow her dreams - Staff Extranet","og_description":"Nurse Navigators are vital members of the RBWH team, helping patients with complex health conditions coordinate their healthcare and providing extra support where they need it. 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