What is a RN Patient Advocate?

An independent RN Patient Advocate is an RN who has a broad range of clinical experience,  excellent clinical skills and the ability to work cooperatively with all branches of the health care team on your behalf.   As your Advocate, she utilizes all her medical knowledge, understanding of the complexity of the health care system and fluency in medical language.  Your RN Patient Advocate knows how best to work with physicians to ensure maximal communication, and how to manage teams toward a common patient-centered goal.  An independent RN Patient Advocate is an excellent educator, researcher and resource person who works specifically for your best interests medically.  The key is in your Advocates independent role.

What will a RN Patient Advocate do for you or your loved one?

1. Advocate on your behalf with all your physicians and health care providers; prevent errors from occurring or from ballooning into poor outcomes; work with your own well-being as the total focus
   
   
2. Collect and process all patient information - assess your understanding and expectations of treatment;  determine what might be missing in the current treatment plan or what changes might possibly effect a better clinical outcome
   
   
3. Teach you and your family about the current medical situation and its relationship to your whole medical history.  We will use whatever tools are best for you:  pictures, articles, verbal teaching or whatever combination might be most effective.  Your understanding of what is happening is key to your best treatment
   
   
4. Collect all pertinent past medical records and from them derive a Medical Time Line to provide all treating medical providers with a concise and complete background in order to avoid medical errors and facilitate appropriate treatment
   
   
5. Research the wide range of possible treatment options including  the usual pharmaceutical and surgical approaches as well as the ever-widening body of options within Integrative Medicine
   
   
6. Present the results of this research and teach what each means in your particular health situation as well as what the expected outcome of each approach might be
   
   
7. Guide you and your family through the decision making process utilizing multilateral consultations;  also assist in your selection of the most highly qualified members of the health care team to best implement your treatment once your choices are made
   
   
8. Facilitate the course of treatment, coordinate the health care team and enable full communication amongst its members to prevent medical errors and save costs on repeated or unnecessary procedures

What DOESN'T a RN Patient Advocate do for you?

1. Make health care choices for you or your family.
   
   
2. Diagnose ailments, order treatments, or replace the physician in any manner.
   
   
3. Provide your total care in the hospital. A RN Patient Advocate advocates for you and helps to provide for your safety. Her role is complementary to the staff, not a replacement for it.
   
   
4. Be the Social worker or Physical Therapist or Nutritionist.  Your RN Patient Advocate will work cooperatively with all members of the health care team to ensure your best possible treatment