Greater National Advocates Blog

After years as a nurse, and years sitting beside hospital beds with people I love, I've learned that the most dangerous part of a hospital stay is often the ride home. Hospital discharges happen fast. Too fast sometimes. Instructions are dense...

We are very good at this work. We know how to read a room — and a chart. We know when something is being missed, minimized, or misread. We know how to stay calm in a medical moment, how to ask the right question at the right time, and how to...

 A cancer diagnosis doesn't just affect your body — it reshapes your entire inner world. When the doctor first says the word "cancer," the world keeps moving, but somewhere inside you, everything shifts. If you've just received a...

To our humanity. If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “Why does everything feel so heavy lately?”—you’re not alone. In my brief 68+ years circumnavigating the sun, I have learned to manage my emotional state by...

What even is trauma? Because I realize that the word itself, trauma, seems to be used to mean different things in medicine, I consulted my favorite dictionary for a concrete definition to start with. trauma, noun, 1. a: an injury (such as a wound...

How Am I Still Struggling With My Chronic Condition? If you’ve been living with a chronic condition for months or even years, you may find yourself asking a frustrating question: How am I still struggling with this? You’ve seen doctors...

Having one health insurance plan can already feel complicated. When you have more than one type of coverage, things can become even more confusing — especially when it is not clear which plan is supposed to pay first. This is where...

My name is L. Bradley Schwartz. I am the president and founder of Greater National Advocates. Before May 2004, I was a trial lawyer with a thriving practice, a happy marriage, young children, and what most people would call a dream life. I spent...

Everyone has had an experience in their life where medical issues completely overtake their lives. Whether it be for yourself or a loved one, the combination of worrying about the quality of your medical care, all the confusing paperwork that...

Sepsis is the body’s severe and potentially fatal response to an overwhelming infection. When a disease spreads into the bloodstream, the body’s immune system reacts intensely to combat it. However, this powerful response can sometimes...

This article explores the medical conditions and factors that may lead to amputation, such as severe infections, traumatic injuries, chronic pain disorders, and malignancies. By reflecting on these scenarios, patients can grasp how amputation can...

Diagnostic errors account for an estimated 40,000-80,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. In this blog post, we will discuss what it means to be misdiagnosed, the primary causes of misdiagnosis, the significance of listening to patient complaints...

Independent patient advocates step into the healthcare system with one purpose: to protect the patient’s rights, voice, and well‑being. We are not employed by hospitals, clinics, or insurance companies — and that independence is...

Help! Is Anyone Listening? Feeling Stuck With Your Condition There comes a moment for many patients when the question isn’t just “What’s wrong with me?”, it’s “Is anyone actually listening?” You’ve...

Learning how the Holocaust unfolded helps us recognize warning signs, protect the dignity of others, and embrace our shared responsibility to care for one another and speak out so history’s pain is not repeated Every day, patient advocates...