Concept Analysis Of Patient Advocacy

The business operation I am going to discuss is patient advocacy. Patient advocacy is an effort to protect and/or defend patients; taken on by individuals, organizations, or groups. Therefore, advocacy is standing for or with a patient that have particular challenges or health concerns. Patient advocacy may include educating the patient and family, affecting public policies, and joining associations. Professional patient advocates heave often worked as social workers, case managers, nurses, or other professions that now focus on helping patient in their decisions making. Patient advocates works in partnership with patient educators, dietitians, psychologists, pharmacist, and community health workers.

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).

rganizing the delivery of health care around the needs of the patient may seem like a simple and obvious approach. In a system as complex as health care, however, little is simple. In fact, thirty years ago when the idea of “patient-centered care” first emerged as a return to the holistic roots of health care, it was swiftly dismissed by all but the most philosophically progressive providers as trivial, superficial, or unrealistic. Its defining characteristics of partnering with patients and families, of welcoming―even encouraging―their

Not all patients are capable of independently identifying and articulate their care needs, so the nurse also adapts the role as an advocate. Clarity and continuity in a trusting environment enables good communication. Progressive identification of needs takes place as nurse and patient communicate with one another in the interpersonal relationship (Peplau 1988, p. 84). Being considerate to the needs and vulnerability of patients is a moral attribute, as nurses are accountable for the care they deliver.

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

Advocating for patients is a key part of nursing. Working in the emergency department, I meet people from all different walks of life, who are sometimes not able to fend or stand up for themselves. As a nurse, it is my job to advocate for them and make sure that they receive the care that they need. . Recently I had a patient who was in pain and was shy to ask for pain management. I advocated for this patient by going to the doctor and requesting pain management for this patient. By recognizing the signs of pain in my patient and having a good form of communication with the doctor, I was able to provide my patient with quick and appropriate care.

When you are supporting a person within the care setting it is important to use a variety of advocacy models, these can include, myself as a peer advocate, this is where I have acted on behalf of person within the home whilst supporting them with a G.P visit or district nurse visit, there is also a self-advocacy this is where the person will respond to the question asked themselves but could need some support or advice when acting in their best interests. There is group-advocacy this is where we carry out a care plan review and involve all parties which include the person themselves, family members and key members of staff. We also involve professional advocates in the home when required to act in the best interest of a person, this has been

Nurses’ involvement in policy debates brings our professional values to bear on the process. (Warner, 2003) The Master’s prepared nurse’s goal as an advocate should be to fight to enhance the client’s wellbeing in every possible way, at every available opportunity. This can be achieved by being part of organization that advocate for patients’ right as well as for better working condition for our colleagues. Also, nurses could choose to get involved in politics or lobby on behalf of other nurses.

The Tennessee Nurses Association has a goal to enhance nurse advocacy. For a nurse to practice advocacy for patients, one must understand the importance. Research had to be done to determine what the nurses were expected to advocate for their patients. Choi, Pin-Pin, and Mei-che Pang (2014) conducted a study to discover how the nurses integrate the advocacy. Choi, Pin-pin, Cheung, and Mei-che Pang’s discovered that nurses are a huge part of recognizing safety concerns and health changes for patients throughout their hospital stay (Para. 5).

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.

The concept is a general idea that is derived from human perception of events in the environment. This is based on the belief that occurrences in a given context are necessary to a wholesome interpretation of a phenomenon ( McEwen, Willis, 2011, pg,.25).Applications of concept analysis to clinical practice has become accepted among practitioners as paradigms of practice.

In a profession where others' health and well-being are priority, there leaves room for neglect of those who are delegated to care for these people. As a professional nurse, there are many obstacles that arise and affect the care provided to a patient, as well as the livelihood of the nurse. The current deteriorating and unsafe staffing conditions in hospitals and other institutions prompts workplace advocacy as the universally appropriate concept for maintaining professional nursing practice. The Arkansas Nurses Association and the Louisiana State Nurses Association define workplace advocacy as a planned, organized system of services and resources designed to support the professional nurse in the workplace (White Paper on

Advocacy is risky, in that other peers may disagree with the decision when addressing the good of individuals or the nurse may potentially lose their position. But being able to find a balance between the foreseeable risks and benefits involved when advocating for better conditions is what leads to a more effective patient care plan (Edelman, Mandle, & Kudzma, 2014, p. 111). In the novel “A Nurse’s Story” by Tilda Shalof (2015), a positive example of advocacy is demonstrated between a patient named Sylvie and a nurse named Tracy. Sylvie is on the top of the organ transplant list for a new lung, but needs oxygen at the moment because she is struggling to breathe. The nurses are put in a situation where she either gets a sedation and intubation but gets taken off the transplant list, or gets the sedation and intubation to help her breathe at the moment. Despite the repercussions of possibly jeopardizing Sylvie’s chance for a lung transplant and going against the doctor in charge’s disapproval, she still gave her a dose of morphine to ease her breathing. Tracy in this situation is a perfect example of an advocate nurse. There were so many risks involved, but she was able to put a whole picture together and add in her instinct to come up with a plan of action. The interpersonal interaction between Tracy and her patient previously enabled her to spend more time to connect with the patient to understand what she needs and how to solve this situation. Not only did the nurse-patient relationship help the patient and her family feel as though they are being cared for, but also helped them feel more motivated to open up to the nurse to achieve better satisfaction. As said in the novel, “it was a small thing, but it was a big thing to Sylvie and her mother” (Shalof, 2015, p.

According to Healthy People 2012 there are more then 800,000 new cases of diabetes each year, with the numbers on the rise. With this in mind, Healthy People 2012 has identified diabetes as their number five focus area. In order to reach their goal of improving the quality of life for people with diabetes they have identified diabetes teaching as their number one objective. Furthermore, in order to reduce the number of complications of diabetes, Healthy People 2012 has identified foot ulcers as their ninth objective. Through patient education Healthy People 2012 hopes to reduce the number of foot ulcers in people with diabetes, as diabetes is the number one cause of nontraumatic amputations in the United States. In order to

Nursing involves greater purpose beside the objective of treating patients’ ailments in an efficient and effective manner. Nurses, physicians, and health care providers across the board uphold the duty to treat patients with the utmost value of care. As a universal definition of care does not exist, Anita Finkelman and Carole Kenner explain care is drawn from four perspectives: a sense of care involving compassion, knowledge and expertise that allows nurses to advocate for the patient in addition to treating the medial complication, and “…competence in carrying out all the required procedures, personal and technical, with true concern for providing the proper care at the proper time in the proper way (Finkelman & Kenner, 2013) . Combining the foundation of every perspective leads to the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) first core competency of patient-centered care. Sans the image of patient-centered care the practice of nursing and medicine alike will lack the passion the American Nursing Association envisions for “the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (Finkelman & Kenner, 2013). Therefore, the author of this paper explores the IOM’s definition of patient-centered care, implementation of the concept, and its pivotal relationship to the nursing profession.