2016 Gold Medalist – Non-Hospital Based Care
Amy Sebastian-Deutsch, DNP, RN, CNS, AOCNS, Memorial Hermann Cancer Centers
Amy Sebastian-Deutsch grew up in an Italian-Scots-German household in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with parents who instilled in their three daughters the value of education.
“My mother was master’s degreed, and my father was double mastered, first in education and later in guidance counseling,” says Dr. Sebastian-Deutsch.
“As an Italian, he was very free with guidance for his daughters. He told us, ‘You need to decide what you want to do. You’re going to college. You have no choice in the matter so find something.
“While I can’t honestly say that I always wanted to be a nurse, I did have the opportunity to do some candy striping, among other things, because my parents always said try new things and do your best,” she says. “So candy striping it was, and I worked in the radiology department, which was the impetus for me to choose nursing. Then in 1970 the movie Love Story came out and the next year Brian’s Song – the Brian Piccolo story. Those two movies were instrumental in my decision to go into oncology.”
Dr. Sebastian-Deutsch enrolled in the bachelor of nursing program at Pennsylvania State University and completed her junior- and senior-level practicum courses at Hershey Medical Center, a cancer research hospital. She graduated in 1979.
“Hauntingly, later in life I had a cat that died of feline leukemia and a dog that died of a lung tumor. Even later, my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 peritoneal cancer of the lung. Today she’s 12 years out, beyond the textbooks, and my younger sister, a 28-year survivor of multiple sclerosis, is also a four-year survivor of breast cancer.”
Dr. Sebastian-Deutsch became an Oncology Certified Nurse in 1989 and completed her master’s at UTHealth Science Center in 1990 with a specialty in oncology nursing. She received her Advanced Oncology Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist certification in 2010 and her Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in 2011.
“My motivator has always been my patients,” she says.
“God has been very good to me, allowing me to couple my clinical expertise with my administrative interests. Through those experiences I’ve met incredible oncology nurses, oncologists, cancer registry staff and patients who have helped me expand my knowledge. Through advances in medicine, we’ve seen many, many more cancer survivors in the last decade – and they are truly my greatest motivators. I’m grateful to be able to bring new treatments to the table for them in addition to offering a hug or a touch.”
On a daily basis Dr. Sebastian-Deutsch also works with administrators, pharmacists, dietitians, social workers, supply chain employees, infection control, IT, and policy committees at the eight Memorial Hermann hospitals with active American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer-accredited cancer programs. She has been instrumental in the initiation and revision of oncology policies, procedures, and processes across the Memorial Hermann Health System. Over the years, she has developed clinical pathways and order sets for various cancer diagnoses based on evidence and best practices. She also developed and facilitates the Oncology Clinical Council, Oncology Nurse Navigators, and Cancer Survivorship Task Force at Memorial Hermann. She has assisted with the implementation of cancer research protocols and works with program development, service line marketing, and strategic planning initiatives for cancer services across the Memorial Hermann system.
“Her passion for excellence shows in all that she does,” wrote her nominator Shelita Anderson, MBA, BSN, RN, OCN.
“Amy has worked tirelessly to build the oncology program for the system. Her work has increased the system’s number of oncology certified nurses from seven to 31 and the system’s oncology nurse navigators from zero to eight. She is an advocate for nurses and encourages others to advance in their careers.”
Her strong interest in research and evidence-based practice has led Dr. Sebastian-Deutsch to work with Wyona Freysteinson, PhD, on pivotal mirror research on the experience of looking at the self for the first time after mastectomy and after limb amputation. She has presented her research nationally and is the coauthor of articles published in Holistic Nursing Practice, Oncology Nursing Forum, Oncology Nursing News, and the Journal of Advanced Practice in Oncology, among others. The winner of the Texas Nurses Association Award for 2014, she is a member of the Oncology Nurses Society (ONS) and the National Coalition of Oncology Nurse Navigators. She serves as a board member and director-at-large of Way Out West, the West Houston Chapter of the ONS, and is an American Cancer Society Volunteer Health Policy Advocate. As a policy advocate, she has lobbied for cancer patients in both the Texas and United States legislatures. She has mentored nurses to speak at the local, state and national levels.
“My own mentor is one I’ve never met and she has been pivotal in helping me mold my career,” she says.
“She wrote, ‘So never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often in such matters the mustard seed germinates and roots itself.’ The quote is from Florence Nightingale.”
Throughout her career, Dr. Sebastian-Deutsch has relied on the support of her family. “They’ve been with me every step of the way,” she says.
“My husband has encouraged me to embrace going beyond my comfort level, and my son and daughter-in-law have cheered me on as long as they’ve been in my life. And my parents, who have gone on the cancer road together, taught me to embrace excellence, to persevere to the completion of a project and to strive for personal excellence. I’m grateful to be recognized with the Good Samaritan Award – a tremendous honor – and humbled to receive this vote of confidence. I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to do something I’m so passionate about, and that is oncology nursing. And if I had it to do all over again, I would do the same thing and not change any of it.”
