The Importance of Patient Advocacy Essay

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).

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.

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.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics provides many professional traits that can be incorporated to an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals such as compassion and respect, advocacy, accountability for nursing practice and participation in advancement of the nursing career (Cherry, 2011). Compassion is a very important aspect of the nursing profession. It would be very difficult to be a nurse without being compassionate. Nurses demonstrate compassion and respect daily in their work by actively listening to patients’ and family members’ problems and concerns and by empathy when appropriate. Advocacy is a nursing trait constantly used by the entire interdisciplinary team. Nurses advocate for patients’ right of autonomy for decision making in regards to their care, treatments and procedures. Also, nurses are in the best position to serve as a bridge between the patient and the interdisciplinary team. Accountability is so essential in the nursing profession. Nurses are accountable for their own nursing practices and for our patients.

A nurse is given an opportunity to help patients, either if its by helping them through a very serious sickness or just helping a patient get to the bathroom on time, or a time when happiness is overfilling the room and a child is being born. Registered nurses provide a wide variety of patient care services (Mitchell, p.12). A Nurse must always know where to begin and where to stop, as any other career in the health field there is always something that cannot be done by everyone but only the certified person, a nurse must always remain inside her scope of practice to prevent any misunderstandings. A nurse must also follow a code of ethics , the code of ethics of the American Association of Medical Assistants states that a nurse should at all times render service with full respect and dignity of humanity, respect confidential information obtained by a patients file, uphold the honor and high principles the profession and accept its discipline, and last but not least always want to improve her services to better serve the health and well being of the community. (Mitchell, p.65).

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).

An advocate must have influence or must be in a position to influence decision or action through his or her message. The nurse must develop influencing skills on competence, credibility, and trustworthiness. For example, a veteran’s advocate must have the best interest of the veteran some as to build trust and credibility in order to facilitate change (Tomajan, 2012)

Was the patient’s best interest at heart? Or was the physician trying to avoid a negative outcome? This is where collaboration among healthcare teams is vital to patient care and upholding patient wishes. Ultimately it is a nurse’s responsibility to advocate for the patient not only in respecting their wishes but communicating all available knowledge so that all parties involved can make and educated decision.

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.

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

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.

Nurses are subject to a plethora of legal, ethical, and professional duties which can be very challenging on a day to day basis. Some of these duties include respecting a patient 's confidentiality and autonomy, and to recognize the duty of care that is owed to all patients. As nurses our duties are always professional; however there are legal implications if these duties are breached. We also must consider when it is okay as nurses to breach these duties and therefore ethical issues arise. As nurses one of our main priorities is to advocate for our patients, without our own personal feelings on the matter taking over.

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