How can you overcome the challenges of being a hospital patient advocate?

1 Know your scope and limits

As a hospital patient advocate, you have a specific role and responsibility to help your clients navigate the health care system and access the services and resources they need. You are not a medical professional, a legal expert, or a therapist. You should not give medical advice, make legal claims, or offer counseling. Instead, you should focus on providing information, education, advocacy, and empowerment to your clients. You should also know your limits and boundaries, and refer your clients to other professionals or agencies when needed.

4 Manage stress and emotions

Being a hospital patient advocate can be stressful and emotionally draining. You have to deal with challenging and sometimes traumatic situations, such as medical errors, ethical dilemmas, or end-of-life decisions. You also have to cope with the frustration, anger, fear, or grief of your clients or others. You have to manage your own stress and emotions, and avoid burnout or compassion fatigue. You can do this by practicing self-care, such as taking breaks, exercising, meditating, or seeking support from your peers or supervisors. You can also use coping strategies, such as reframing, distancing, or venting, to deal with difficult emotions.

5 Learn and improve

Being a hospital patient advocate is a continuous learning process. You have to keep up with the changes and trends in the health care system, the laws and regulations, and the best practices and standards of your profession. You also have to learn from your experiences, your feedback, and your mistakes. You can learn and improve by seeking opportunities for training, education, or mentoring. You can also use reflection, evaluation, or supervision to assess your performance, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and set your goals and action plans.