Roles Of A Patient Advocate

By Francis Riggs


Those individuals whose primary role is to listen to patients and represent them whenever their rights are violated are called patient advocates. They help the patients, caregivers and also survivors. They represent the patients and either work individually or as organization members. They may represent patients suffering from common diseases or major on all illnesses. Regardless of what they do and where they do their work, they should be aware of what the patients need. Some are taking the career as a patient advocate in hospitals where the patients are admitted.

This role of advocating for patients is new in the city of Sydney, AU and also evolving. As everyone starts to be aware of the rights of patients, a number of health workers have come together to defend the rights of the patients. Because it is a new career, almost all health professionals brand themselves as patient advocates after long experience in their fields. However, some of the universities have begun to offer degree programs of the same.

The advantage with this task is that there are various jobs to work on. Not all of these professionals work in hospitals. Many of them find jobs in nonprofit organizations, insurance companies and in government agencies. If you have worked as a professional in hospitals, you can make use of these skills.

The people working in this field are specialists in different areas. What they have specialized in does not matter. What matters actually is their contribution in making sure that the rights of patients have been taken care of

Requirements for one to work as an advocate depend on where he is working. Some of requirements are similar for all these individuals. They will not obviously apply in all the situations and variations are expected from area to area. A job seeker should inquire of the specific requirements needed by the organization.

Because the patients spokes-persons work in various places and have differing responsibilities, they influence people differently. Your area of specialization will guide you on how you will assist. Those working as medical assistants work in health units, nursing homes and community clinics. Those working as insurance assistants work for insurance companies and nonprofit organizations. Government agencies can employ anyone from these fields.

No one forces you to quit your current job when you decide to join those helping in advocating for the patient rights. There is no time when we can say that there are no patients in hospitals. Your contribution will always be appreciated. This is a new career and very few learning institutions offer certificates and also degree programs in this field. The people doing such roles begin to be called activists once they start helping the patients achieve their healing rightfully.

If you are that person with interest in advocating for the rights of patients, you will not be expected to go back to college and learn. You will only be required to choose your area of specialty and then gain experiences as you work there. As it has been said, most of these professionals partly work as healthcare professionals with a wide range of experiences in the medical fields. They volunteer when they are free from their expected chores.




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