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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.

It is an emerging career in the city of Sydney, AU which is changing faster. Nowadays, everyone is already aware that no patient should be mistreated or denied their rights. That is why some of the hospitals have groups of people advocating for patients. Because this is an upcoming career with no restrictions on qualifications, most of the people working in hospitals call themselves activists after long years of expertise. Some of the higher learning institutions are trying to rectify the problem by offering degree courses on 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 people work in many fields, the responsibilities assigned to these individuals somehow differ. They will assist in different aspects according to their areas of specialization. Those specialized in medicine work in hospitals, nursing homes and in the community clinics. Others may choose to specialize in insurance and nonprofit organizations. Some of them will get their jobs in government agencies.

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 already have the interest of advocating for rights of the patients, you will not require any formal training. All you need is to specify your area of work and then start getting the experiences as you work in that area. As pointed out earlier, most people working as patient advocates partly work in the hospitals and already have a wide base of experiences. They do these volunteer services when they are free after completing their shifts. It is not an obligation for them to do but actually they do this extra chore willingly out of their hearts.




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