“Whether calling attention to a potential medication error, helping the rest of the health care team hear a patient’s voice or shaping policy by speaking from first-hand experience, advocating for patients comes naturally to today’s nurses.”
What Does a Patient Advocate / Nurse Navigator Do?
Our Patient Advocate intercedes on behalf of the patient, working as a liaison with the family, physicians, physical therapy, and many other health care agencies and insurance companies, improving communication, accessing information, addressing concerns and assisting in resolving difficulties. Our Patient Advocate works directly for you so we have your best interest at heart providing support, encouragement and assistance. Our Patient Advocate can help coordinate the patient’s health care team for the optimal benefit of the patient. Our Patient Advocate can help create a patient care plan, so that all care givers are working together with the same information towards the same goal. Our Patient Advocate can help empower the patient with organized medical records. Our Patient Advocate may accompany a patient to appointments, and may monitor the patient at the bedside in a hospital
Do you feel you have way too much on your plate related to your medical issues, or dealing with elderly parents? Our Patient Advocate can help you sort through your medical issues. Some patients and family members just can not deal with a day at a time, but they can deal with maybe an hour at a time, or if that is too much, most of us can get through the next five minuets. Our Patient Advocate realizes that every moment counts in quality of life.
Who Needs a Patient Advocate / Nurse Navigator?
- Healthy Patients need to get their Medical Records in order so that they can be proactive in their medical care.
- A Patient that has just been newly diagnosed with a disease needs to know potential options and solutions to set treatment goals.
- A Patient going to surgery needs to know what to expect pre op and post op.
- A Patient facing chemotherapy or radiation therapy needs to be proactive in the decision process.
- Hospice Patients, Family Members and Friends helping to care for the Patient need help to find solutions that will give the patient the best quality of life for every moment they are on the planet.
Our Nurse Navigators primary responsibilities are to EASE the Burden on patients and their families and to help coordinate the efforts of the medical team.
- Help the patient get their medical records organized
- Understand and Review the patient’s diagnosis and available treatment options
- Review Medical Records and test reports
- Voice any questions or concerns with your doctors and other health care team members
- Make referrals and/or schedule appointments
- Understand your medications
- Connect community resources for family support
- Discuss financial concerns you may have and connect you to appropriate resources
