Cancer treatment is complicated. No sooner do patients hear the diagnosis than they are faced with bewildering rounds of tests, appointments, procedures, surgeries and treatments.

That's where Kathleen Gamblin, an oncology nurse navigator at WellStar's STAT Cancer Clinic, makes a difference. She schedules appointments, answers questions, and uses her clinical expertise and caring nature to educate and support patients and their families.

BARRY WILLIAMS/Special (ENLARGE)

RELATED LINKS: • Complete list of Nursing Excellence Awards nominees • Celebrating Nurses

"I'm passionate about the nurse navigation role," said Gamblin, 38. "We take people at the worst point of their lives and offer them light, hope and a helping hand."

That helping hand has gone beyond the call of duty. When Gamblin was working as navigator for a lung cancer patient who had a few weeks to live, she found out what the woman needed most: to be reunited with her estranged family in California and to be assured that her 12-year-old daughter would be taken care of.

"Kathleen was told that [the patient] could never fly with the amount of oxygen she needed, and Social Services said their hands were tied," said Barbara Pruitt, who nominated Gamblin for the award.

Gamblin, a former Air Force nurse, refused to be denied.

"I knew this was what was most important for the patient and that we needed to put her needs first and make it happen," she said.

After numerous calls to airlines, Gamblin found one that would fly the patient with the oxygen that she needed. The nurse also arranged to get the patient to the airport, through security and on the plane safely. Gamblin lined up a respiratory therapist and family members to meet the patient in California. Gamblin's inquiries brought forth a donor who paid the costs.

The patient died 10 days later, but "I talked to her brother later and heard how the daughter had settled in with his family," Gamblin said.

A short time later, Gamblin's father was diagnosed with and died from melanoma.

"I came back to work not knowing if I'd be able to do this job, but I see it now as a way to honor his memory in a way that would make him proud," she said.