What is a Nurse advocate?

An Advocate is a person who provides support for your case on your behalf in relation to your health treatment.  

You may feel unfamiliar and alienated in a hospital environment the minute you walk in. Typically, you hand yourself over to a health professional with the hope of finding out what’s wrong with you and you may feel like you get treated like a number.  You would usually wear a wrinkled gown which can be dehumanising and make you feel like a symptom and not a person.  You may experience feelings of fear, anger, exhaustion, anxiety, guilt and vulnerability.  Coupled with being unwell, you may experience a power imbalance between you and your treating teams.

A Nurse Nav Advocate is an independent Registered Nurse (RN) employed by you for you with the aim of supporting your ability to understand and have more control.  Having a calm, objective, caring professional who understands the healthcare industry can give you peace of mind.  Knowing the system, people, professions, language, policies, procedures, what goes on behind the scenes, what to expect, what not to expect, how to troubleshoot and anticipate problems gives Nurse Nav the ability to insist on thorough, careful, customised care.  Saving both you and the treating team errors, time, resources and dissatisfaction.

What Nurse Nav can positively impact:

• Improve Communication
• Logistics
• Care
• Treatments 
• Education
• Workplace
• Legal 
• Vigilance and Accountability 

When would it be useful to have a Nurse Advocate?

When you want:

• more information
• peace of mind
• help with a new diagnosis
• an explanation of medical terms
• a voice of reason between your providers

or 

 You are a partner, child, friend, carer for someone who is experiencing the above and just can’t support them the way you would like to.