Advocating for patients and their families bynavigating them through their healthcare journey is my passion. I have been doing this professionally and personally for years. The goal is to empower and enlighten through personal representation, individualizing support, multidisciplinary consultation, patient education, and counseling. I have served my community, family, and friends both locally and nationally. I have been a registered nurse for over 20 years in the inpatient and outpatient settings, as a hospice nurse and case manager, in institutional leadership and mentoring roles, educating both peers and our patient population. Working in various specialties has given me a unique point of view to help people connect where they may feel disconnected.

Throughout my career I have recognized the need for empowering patient population through education while actively being the resource they need when they don't know how to take the next step in their new or ongoing healthcare journey. While my career has been primarily in hematology and oncology, when it comes to advocacy and navigation, I strongly believe everyone needs someome in their corner with a wealth of experience, knowledge, and resources to be their voice and teach them to use their own. Sometimes needs are not voiced until a situation has progressed. I encourage clients to be open and share all concerns. We discuss the situation, the problems or disconnect, what I can do for my client, and how to make a challenging situation more fluids and manageable with a positive outcome. My services can be aquired directly by the patient or by a family member on behalf of their loved one. After the initial consultation and the contract agreement is signed, I require my name be added to the hospital "Release of Information" form (or ROI) in order to communicate with medical teams on behalf of my client. This allows me to review medications, treatment plans, communicate with medical staff, multidisciplinary teams, and assist in patient and family education. I communicate with my clients weekly with updates, to follow up on progress, and to advise or counsel as needed. My goal is to achieve positive outcomes for my clients. The best outcome can only be accomplished through compassion, communication, trustworthiness, and the ability to use my years of experience and wealth of resources to empower others.

The purpose of the initial call/consultation is for me to learn about the needs of my potential client and conclude with an agreement. I will introduce myself and explain what a private healthcare advocate and navigator is and give space for questions. My role is to be a liason between the client and their healthcare team. Next is the reason for the call. During this time, I am actively listening and taking notes, asking questions along the way for clarification. This helps me learn about my client and decipher what the problems are so I can create a plan. By the end of the consultation, hopefully a contract agreement will be signed and I can get to work. If time is needed to decide, a 24 hour window is given. After this time, I request a message through Solace stating the desire to move forward with the agreement or not. *Consultation fee is a flat fee regardless of length of call.

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