Sharon S. Gentry, MSN, RN, HON-ONN-CG, AOCN, CBCN

Sharon Gentry, MSN, RN, HON-ONN-CG, AOCN, CBCN, has been involved in oncology care for the past 40 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master’s degree in nursing education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her oncology clinical background includes inpatient, education and for the last 20 years has been a part of an ongoing successful outpatient breast nurse navigator program for the Novant Health system. She started the first navigation program in North Carolina as well as assisted in organizing the state navigation association—North Carolina Oncology Navigator Association.

She has been a member of the Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators (AONN+) Leadership Council since its 2009 inception. Currently, she is the Program Director for this organization. To support this navigation professional organization, she has co-chaired annual AONN+ conferences, participated on the teams for certification, metrics and acuity and is the liaison for the local navigation networks. She is on the editorial board of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA and CONQUER and is the breast editor for the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship (JONS). She has authored numerous articles and chapters on the navigation concept or breast cancer care and travels nationally lecturing on the topics. She is an active member of the Nation Navigation Round Table Steering Committee and contributes to the Certification and Training working group.

She is been a member of the Oncology Nursing Society, was a founding member of the Piedmont Triad Oncology Nurse Chapter and has served in a local leadership role for thirty years. She was a participant on the inception of the Oncology Nursing Certified Breast Care Nurse examination and was a past chair of the Oncology Nursing Certification Breast Care Committee.