Our Mission
To empower people in their health care through advocacy, education, and guidance through the healthcare system.
For over 21 years, we at RN Patient Advocates have worked independently with patients to assist them in finding the best healthcare and treatment outcomes possible. Do you have a medical crisis? Wonder what doctors might best help you? Have a mystery illness that no one can diagnose? Have several doctors who don’t speak to each other? Wonder what all of your medications actually do for you?
Experienced clinical RNs are a treasure trove of information and, working as independent RN Patient Advocates, can stand by your side through your illness: asking the healthcare questions you don’t know how to ask, teaching you what is really going on in your body, researching and teaching you the full range of treatment options, guiding you through the maze of the healthcare system so it can best serve you.
Our Founder
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| Karen Mercereau, RN, iRNPA |
Karen Mercereau, RN, brings 45 years of clinical nursing, community and home-based healthcare delivery along with patient advocacy experience to the development of RN Patient Advocates, PLLC. Her expertise has always been in the recognition of nursing as a dynamic process and in the development of systems reflecting that in the ever-changing world of healthcare. This focus led her to such diverse activities as serving as clinical instructor to paramedics, working with the team establishing the first Hospice in Tucson, AZ, and specializing in the intensive care areas of hospitals.
She practiced her clinical skills alongside working to create new healthcare delivery systems. Leading a nationally recognized task force on RN Credentialing, she worked to assure the most appropriate care to patients and to provide a career path for RN’s reflecting both academic and clinical experiences. This creative approach also served Karen well as she led a consortium of private and public sector healthcare providers to establish healthcare delivery systems for HIV-AIDS patients in the time before government recognition of the disease.
Continuing her role as healthcare innovator, Karen has now evolved the Advocacy Process (c) which is the Standard of Care of independent RN Patient Advocates who complete the learning intensive preparing them for this role. She has designed the National Network of RN Patient Advocates to serve as the virtual community linking them.
The RN Patient Advocacy program provides for the improved safety and education of both hospitalized and community-based patients at this time of increasing numbers of medical errors which result in complications and deaths. RN Patient Advocates recognizes that these errors are largely a phenomenon of medicine for profit, not a result of substandard doctors and nurses. Karen is best known for her ability to function effectively in complex circumstances, keeping the safety of her patients foremost in advocating on their behalf with multiple providers.
Advisory Board
- Joan Shaver, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Dean of Department: College of Nursing, University of Arizona
- Barbara Bagdasarian Brewer, RN, PhD, MBA – Director of Professional Practice, John C. Lincoln Hospital, Phoenix, AZ; Adjunct Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Arizona State University; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Indiana University School of Nursing
- Karen DiMarco, RN, BSN, RNPA
- Tony Ford, MBA
- Ellen Kirton, Center Director/SBDC Southern AZ
Affiliations and Awards
- College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- Endorsed by Holistic Nurses Association
- Member Alliance of Professional Health Advocates
- Pioneer Award: National Association of Women Business Owners 2005
- Purpose Prize Fellowship 2010
- Fabulous 50 RN program in Tucson, AZ
- Partnered with College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
- The International Nurses Association Recognizes Karen Mercereau as World Wide Leader in Healthcare and as a Top RN in the US 2016
- Ken Schueler Patient Advocacy Award 2016
Graduate Experience of RNPA Learning Intensive
“In a year’s time after taking the RNPA Learning Intensive, my career, my health, my family, my very life has been transformed. I am forever grateful” — Karen DiMarco, RN, iRNPA
“The way of the future of nursing…an absolute must if you want to make and be the difference in righting the wrongs of healthcare. Kare is a wonderful mentor who has put her soul into this program. Passion, Vision, Perseverance.” — Lana Benton, RN, iRNPA
“The forethought, experience, openness, philosophy and preparation provides all the tools, thought process, and confidence to begin and succeed as an iRNPA.” — Leta Gill, RN, iRNPA
“My experience attending the iRNPA program was a refreshing one, to say the least. This program was packed with life changing information that is not readily taught or available to RN’s. This program equipped me with the tools I need to be an iRNPA! If you are ready for a change after working for many years in the clinical setting, and are driven to help patients and families, this is the program for you! Karen is a wealth of knowledge that is unmatched in the advocacy process.” — Jamie Long
“Thank you so much for putting together such an incredible RN PA intensive course! It is truly intensive but so worth it! I learned a lot and will be using the Medical Time Line and lab spreadsheet with as many clients as i can. All great information and can’t wait to get my speaking engagements lined up now that I have your fantastic power points!” — Nan Wetherhorn, Health Care Advisor, www.healthcareadvisornan.com
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