Nurse Advocate For A Nurse

It’s the nurse's duty to advocate for her patient and to make sure that the patient understands and ask questions if necessary.

Nursing is defined as the promotion, protection and the prevention of illness and Injury, the treatment of a patient’s disease or diseases, the patient’s response to a disease, as well as one big thing that nurses are known for, and that is being a patient’s advocate nursing has been one of the fastest growing fields since the 1990’s (Mueller et al.,2012). Advocacy is defined as an action in which a person speaks out, argues a cause, supports and defends on the behalf of others. I believe that the role of being a patient advocate is one of the most important things a nurse can do because there are many patients that cannot speak on their behalf, I believe that it is up to the nurses to be those patients as well as all patient’s voices (Mueller et al., 2012).

The role of the nurse in the healthcare setting is to be supportive, informative, advocate and help patient through their treatment journey through the use of language- verbal and non-verbal.

“Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles” (ICN 2010)

In Nursing, there will always be instances where the patient's nurse needs to advocate for their patient. There are numerous reasons why a nurse would advocate for their patient ranging from getting the doctor to change the patient’s orders, helping the patient’s treatment team understand what it is the patient is requiring for the day, to expressing the patient’s last wishes before death. In every situation, the nurse should do what is in the patient’s best interest. Tomajan (2012), “Advocacy skills are the ability to successfully support a cause or interest on one’s own behalf or that of another. Advocacy requires a set of skills that include problem solving, communication, influence, and collaboration”(p. 2). With those skills, the

The topic of end-of-life care may seem daunting and uncomfortable, and yet most individuals do have unique desires and concerns regarding their provision for the future. Providing the opportunity for that communication, the advance directive and POLST forms allow an individual to explicitly state their wishes before the future. Developed to lessen the apprehensions concerning patients undergoing any extensive and unwanted measures to preserve life at any cost, these medical directives lighten the decision-making burden for physicians and families alike and help comply with the patient’s utmost end-of-life wishes.

This is called an advocator, knowing their patients needs and wants so they can speak for the patient when they cannot speak for themselves. If you want to be a nurse advocate, you must first earn a bachelor's or associate degree in nursing, or graduate from a nursing diploma program. After successfully completing your education, you will need to pass the exam to become a licensed registered nurse. Nurses could also be a counselor maybe for particular things such as the people that are in charge of meetings for addicts. There is also nursing management which is performing leadership functions such as decision-making within organizations and employing nurses. It includes the common thing management do like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling. There is also a nurse coordinator; the clinical nurse coordinator serves as the eyes and ears for the nurse manager on a given shift. They make rounds on patients and staff, leads by example, and serves as a liaison between the unit and other hospital departments. Lastly a nurse could be a researcher; a Nurse Researcher is a monthly journal which publishes original research and clinical articles relevant to the practice of nursing research. Nurse researchers are scientists who study various aspects of health, illness, and health care. By designing and implementing scientific studies, they look for ways to improve health, healthcare services, and

It is very important that each individual, if possible has a say in his or her own dying and death. Facing death is hard for everyone and there are specific issues to be talked about in advance. A living will or a Physician Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) is extremely useful. The POLST is designed for people with serious or life-threatening illnesses. “This is a standardized form that describes a patient’s wishes and is signed by his or her physician, providing both summary of an individual’s advance directive decision and the physician’s order. It can be used to inform emergency personnel about a patient’s wishes for life sustaining procedures, such as CPR. “

Tennessee law on advanced directives is a document that tells your family, friends, and doctors on how you want to be treated in an emergency. Advance directive can be a document or a living will in which you state the plan of care when you are no longer able to communicate treatment choices or decision. Advance directives is not only for the elderly but it can be at any age even if you are not sick at the time of the document. This document list the details of treatment that you want implemented if a serious incident was to happen. It would tell what interventions should be used in your care. Some of the choices would include a full status code where the patient wants CPR or a do not resistant code can be used for treatment. The client can also have the option of limited interventions with each code status. It would include artificial ventilation or artificial feeding and any type of tubes associated with your treatment. The client can also be specific if he or she wants just medical treatment only including the use of drug therapy. In this paper, we will look at Tennessee law and various

Nurses play many essential roles in the care of their patients, one is being an advocate. Nurse advocates are the liaison between patients and doctors.

Advocacy is the active support of an idea or cause expressed through strategies and methods that influence the opinions and decisions of people and organizations (Buckley, n.d). Professional nurses have a long history of struggling to deliver patient care against multiple barriers, including dwindling resources. As we speed into the current century, the struggle is increasing in complexity. This struggle affects not only individual nurses, but also patients, organizations, and the nursing profession. Nurses’ strong commitment to patient care and their role as patient advocates often places them in direct conflict with administrators of health care organizations (Green & Jordan, 2004).

With an increasing aging population and growing numbers of individuals with chronic conditions, it is important for individuals to prepare for end-of-life care. An Advance Directive is a defined as a “legal document that provides data to critical care staff about patients’ wishes, especially when critical illness decreases decision-making ability” (McAdam, Stotts, Padilla, and Puntillo, 2005). An Advance Directive also allows for better communication between the patient and doctor, and preserves the autonomy of patients. It may also alleviate one’s family from any possible burden of uncertainty of one’s wishes. It provides guidance, which may avert arguments with family members concerning treatment choices (Cedars Sinai, 2015). The Patient

Curtin's (1979) concept of advocacy is based on the nurse/patient relationship that forms from the common bond of humanity. The nurse must realize patient reactions and needs created by illness, which may threaten the integrity of the person (Bu & Jzewski, 2006, p103)(McSteen & Peden-McAlpine, 2006, p. 260). Gadow (1980) states that advocacy not only preserves, but also positively contributes to self-determination. "The effort to assist patients become clear about what they want in a situation, to assist them in discerning and clarifying their values and examining available options in light of those values" (MacDonald, 2007, p.120) Kohnke's (1982) definition of advocacy focuses on ensuring patient self-determination over decision-making (MacDonald, 2007, p. 120). Advocacy involves the nurse supplying patients with information needed to make appropriate choices and then supporting the decisions they make along with their right to make that decision (Bu & Jzewski, 2006, p103). Robinson (1985) thought advocacy involved allowing patients to make decisions without pressure and promote informed decision-making" (Baldwin, 2003, p. 35). Chafey et. al. (1998) indicated that the nurse-patient relationship is an important feature of advocacy. Teaching, informing, and supporting are activities of patient advocates. Lindahl and Sandman (1998) described patient advocacy as "building a caring relationship, carrying out a commitment, empowering, making room for and

Nurses provide excellent patient care, teach patients about health conditions, and give advice and support to patients and their families. Nurses have a variety of duties. They must monitor and record patient symptoms, take vital signs, watch patients diet and physical activity, supervise less skilled nurses, and order and interpret tests to access the condition of the patient. Nursing can be a wonderful, caring, and thoughtful job. However, to other nurses: nursing can be a difficult, tiring, and stressful job. Any job can be tough but nursing is emotionally and physically draining on a person. Nursing can be such a burdensome and demanding job sometimes because of the long hours, the exam to become a nurse, and dealing with other people.

Nurses work in a challenge work setting; therefore, nurses must recognize the current issues of the facility and health care system as well as comprehend and utilize the optimal advocacy strategies to be successful and accountable professionals. American Nurse Association (ANA) provides five resources for workforce advocacy programs which include: