title: Building confidence into communication of bad news: The role of the patient advocate.
abstract: The need for a patient advocate is greater than ever as medical errors continue to occur. News media quickly capture the egregious errors, but more errors are experienced by patients who suffer quietly. These patients know something wrong occurred during their hospitalization, but they choose to refrain from pursuing litigation against the providers. There also are thousands of individuals who never realize that a medical error occurred. In a patient- and family-centered care environment, patient advocates can bridge these issues by participating on the healthcare team that is involved with the initial disclosure of the event and by providing a caring relationship to assure the patient's voice is heard and understood.
authors.affiliation: Shore Health System, Easton, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Ruth P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Carol R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Waldemayer
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Bunting
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D014342:Truth Disclosure