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The Last Four Myths About Starting an Independent Advocacy Practice
This is week 3 of our series, and includes the final four myths about starting, building, and growing an independent patient advocacy or care management practice. Week 1 (Myths 1, 2, and 3) is found here. Week 2 (Myths 4, 5, and 6) is found here. To remind you, these myths are based on the comments I’ve heard from advocates who (I’m sorry to say) failed at getting a practice started, not because they don’t know how to be good advocates (they do!) but because they tried to get started despite their misconceptions about what it would be like to do so. Here are the final four myths for you to consider, in hopes these misconceptions aren’t yours. Or, if they are, we hope this helps you reconsider, and take steps to be sure they don’t sink your advocacy practice. Myth #7: You have to be a nurse to be an advocate. This is THE myth that refuses to die, no matter how many times I explain why it’s JUST NOT TRUE! The only people who will ever tell you this are nurses, and too many nurses who tell you this do so in very catty, nasty ways – unless you, yourself, are also a nurse. I’ve addressed this question many times before: Do I Have to Be a Nurse to Be a Patient Advocate? (November 2011) Forum Fireworks Tackle the Question: Who Is Qualified to Be a Patient Advocate? (November 2010) Remembering the Mean Girls (February 2015) You absolutely do NOT need to be a nurse (or have been a nurse in the past) to succeed as a patient advocate. Myth #8: Advocacy is a one-person, solitary service. It’s easy because I can just do it myself! Check out this list of services health and patient advocates, and care managers, provide. Then you’ll believe me when I tell you that there is not one single person on this planet who can perform them all. Successful advocates spend their days MAKING CONNECTIONS – connections with clients, of course. But beyond that, they are connecting with other advocates whose skills complement their own,…