Out of all the professions, nurses rank the highest for their honesty and ethical behavior. Time and time again, public polls have shown that people trust medical experts more than anyone else. This makes sense, given that you’re entrusting nurses with your life and want to make sure the person has the right values to treat you.

One important aspect of nursing is patient advocacy. Nowadays, many professionals take on the consultant role, guiding the patient through the recovery process. These medical experts are responsible for answering all questions regarding drugs, insurance, available providers, etc.

Hiring independent nurse advocates is especially important for patients with chronic and life-threatening conditions. As you can’t make any mistakes on your road to recovery, you’ll need someone to point you in the right direction and help you reduce treatment costs.

Nurse Advocacy Basics

Healthcare has become so convoluted, with many providers taking part in your recovery process. Policies and technology change all the time, making it difficult for patients to keep up with all the innovations. In these cases, you need someone who works in the industry and can provide a valuable piece of advice.

This is how we come to nurse advocates. As the name suggests, these are trained specialists who prioritize patient care. Most of them have hands-on experience, making it easier to address real-world issues their clients are facing.

Nurse advocates are meant to serve as patients’ voices. They serve as a shield against all healthcare providers, pharmacies, and insurance agencies that would potentially take care of them. Furthermore, they recommend the best specialists while educating the client regarding their condition and available treatment.

Nurse Advocate Requirements

You can’t become a nurse advocate by simply finishing a nursing school. Instead, you need extensive practical experience to fulfill this role. Specifically, one of the main requirements is being acquainted with the healthcare system, current laws, and providers.

A nurse advocate needs to be great at identifying what’s bothering their client. Although these experts shouldn’t replace doctors, they need to have vast diagnostic knowledge. This is especially important if a patient is misdiagnosed and is treated for the wrong conditions.

While nurse advocates are usually independent contractors or a part of larger agencies, they usually collaborate with other entities within the local system. These experts should have great rapport with other doctors and clinics, which would expedite the patient’s recovery process.

Becoming a Nurse Advocate

Due to the importance of this position, it isn’t easy to become a nurse advocate. Here are the main hurdles you need to overcome to get licensed:

• Earn a degree in nursing (ASN) or become a bachelor of science (BSN). The latter one is much better as it will give you more employment and development options in the future.
• Finish the NCSBN or National Council of State Boards of Nursing exam. This enables you to work as a registered professional.
• While there isn’t a mandatory certification for this position, many professionals take additional courses. With each new exam or degree, you increase your odds of becoming hired by specialized nurse advocate providers.

In reality, nurse advocates also require practical knowledge. They need to have enormous hands-on experience to tackle all the potential issues a patient might encounter.

Nurse Advocates Role

As mentioned, a nurse advocate has to ensure clients’ rights are protected at every step. They need to provide valuable information when a person is confused or doesn’t know who to turn to. These experts serve as liaisons between the healthcare system and the client.

A nurse advocate needs to have a comprehensive understanding of the patient’s condition. If they don’t, they won’t be able to provide a prompt, relevant recommendation for that person. Among other things, nurse advocates are there to resolve any potential conflicts that might arise between the doctor and the patient.

To have a better understanding of the nurse advocate profession, here’s a short breakdown of their roles and responsibilities:

• Safeguarding Patients

Veteran nurses need to ensure their clients are properly treated throughout the entire recovery duration. Their primary responsibility is to check on the hospital’s conditions, prescribe drugs and treatment, and the home recovery process. If a doctor recommends a dubious treatment, their job is to confront them to protect the patient’s rights.

• Sharing Information

Many patients don’t have a full understanding of their condition, what’s happening to their bodies, and how treatment makes everything better. Some of them might be on the verge of panicking as they don’t know what to expect in the forthcoming period. 

With a nurse advocate in your corner, all of this is a thing of the past. A nurse practitioner is there to explain medical jargon and other treatment nuances. They educate patients, so they know what they’re dealing with and how much time they’ll need to recover.

• Checking Documents for Errors

Despite doctors’ best efforts, errors still occur. Some of them are more technical, including typos, wrong prescriptions, or incomplete forms. If the physician’s notes are in any way compromised, it is the nurse’s role to ask a doctor for clarification and set things straight.

• Sharing Resources

Due to the complexity of a recovery process, you’ll need to interact with various interest groups. Besides doctors, you’ll also interact with pharmacists, transportation companies, insurance companies, banks, and support groups. Each of these entities serves a particular role that will expedite your recovery or, at least, make things easier for you.

As you don’t know much about these providers, it is the nurse’s role to point you in the right direction. Medical experts will give you a list of local organizations that can help out a person such as yourself.

Conclusion

Being a nurse advocate is extremely hard yet very rewarding. To become one of these medical experts, you need complex, multidisciplinary knowledge and enormous experience. An excellent way to start is to find a good nursing school where you’ll hone your skills, after which you should work for some time in a clinic or a hospital.