Nursing has been ranked as one of the most trusted professions in the world, but it goes far beyond just treating a patient’s disease and sending them home from the hospital. Nursing is about not only caring for patients’ physical needs but their physiological and spiritual needs as well. As Florence Nightingale said “nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion” (Selanders). I think nursing is advocating for people when they cannot do so themselves or when they just need someone to advocate for their wishes and feelings. All patients including those in the hospital for only a short time to those that have been there for months and are terminal, should be advocated for and have their voices heard. Many nurses treat caring for patients as just a job and nothing else. They don’t try to …show more content…
As Florence Nightingale said “nurses are seen as advocates both when working to achieve desired patient outcomes and when patients are unable or unwilling to advocate for themselves” (Selanders). Advocating for patients allows nurses to have a deeper connection with patients and thus provide better care that is individualized. I think advocating for patients is vital in nursing because often we don’t see more than a disease and tend to make decisions for our patients about what is best for them, without actually hearing what the patient wants. The nurse can act as an objective patient advocate who expresses the patient wishes and has the best interest of the patient in mind. Nursing is about far more than treating someone and discharging them, “nursing was about restoration and promotion of health and it didn’t end with the patient” (Payne). It’s about seeing people as an individual beyond the disease, or situation. Nursing is providing patient education, and promoting wellness in everyone around
One of the many roles played by a nurse is to advocate for his or her patients,provide holistic care for them, and make surethat
In the nursing meta-paradigm, I have nursing left to discuss. Nursing does not have to be necessarily a “nurse” helping a “patient.” Nursing is when any one person or group helps another individual get better.. The nurse is there to help the patient learn about their illness and educate them so they can make educated decisions about their own care. According to King (2010) the nurse’s goal is to recover health and to preserve individual’s health (p. 150). Nurses are the advocates for the patient; they must have respect for the patient, and keep the patient safe. Potter and Perry (2009) the ANA Code of Ethics for nursing states that the nurse is there to “….. promote, advocate, and strive to protect the health, safety and right of the patient,” (p.315). It is not the nurse’s job to judge the patient. The nurse is only there to assess and educate the patient. In the end the patient should gain enough education
Everyday nurses encounter situations in the workplace and frequently find themselves in the role for advocate for both patients and staff. Advocacy is a process used to facilitate growth in others and provide others with the information that empowers them to make their own decisions. While advocating nurses main focus remains on supporting decision making rather than making decision for others (Grand Canyon University, 2011).
The nurse must always remember that his or responsibility is to be supportive to the patient first not to the facility or other healthcare workers.
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).
Nurses must expand the role of patient advocate to a level broader than individual patient considerations (Porter, 2010).
Individuals involved in political action are often looked at as advocates, moreover, nurses specifically have a role in advocating for the marginalized, disenfranchised, and vulnerable populations. The impact nursing has on political action dates back to “the 1960s and 1970s with the push for women’s rights and issues surrounding consumer rights” (Mason, et al., 2016, p. 31). Nurses became known as advocates for their patients which physicians interpreted to going against what they felt to be in the best interest of the patient’s health. The nurses were not carrying out the orders physicians gave, stating they were advocating for their patients. With the movement of nurses advocating for their patients, that opened the doors for an opportunity where nurses could begin practicing autonomously and establishing nursing as a profession. Some states have gone so far as to defining, within their nurse practice act, how nurses will advocate for their patients, nursing, and the health care field (Mason, et al., 2016, p. 32). Quality of a great advocate include, feeling empathy towards the patient, situation, or issue. As you learn to empathize, you become passionate about the situation and/or issue (e.g. health disparity), thus becoming engaged in the situation. As nurses, we are extremely passionate about what we do. This leads us to tap into our moral compass and how we identify with the patient, situation, or
The part of patient advocacy is not new for nurses. Generally, tolerant advocacy has been an ethical commitment for nurses. Amid late years, nursing writing has been centered on the advocacy part and nursing callings has embraced the term 'persistent advocacy ' to mean a perfect of the practice. Nurses expect that they have a moral commitment to promoter for their patients. They likewise every now and again depict their judgments and activities for the benefit of a patient similar to "a patient promoter".
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
A professional nurse should be an advocate for the patient and their family. Recently, I was an advocate for a patient who wanted to stop his dialysis treatments after six years of treatment. He was not depressed or terminal but was a healthy ninety-year-old man. He admitted he “lived a good life, was at peace with God and was ready to go. He met with his family over Christmas and they encouraged him to reconsider his decision. The children encouraged to him to continue dialysis until January. He agreed, but set a date of January 18 to discontinue treatment. The daughter called several times and I reassured her that this was a thought out decision and he had spoken to his nephrologist several times about it. He also had conversed with
In particular, “Part of advocating is assessing that the client has all the information needed to make informed choices. Advocating means talking about the client’s wishes with the right people, with the aim of honoring those wishes. Advocacy should involve communicating in a way that supports the best care possible for the client, while helping the health care team understand the client’s wishes.” (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2016, What does the College mean when you say "a nurse is accountable for advocating for the client’s choice?”section, para. 1)
You state nurses can fulfil their advocacy by joining associations related to their profession like nurse association. Another way to work with other individuals or groups to achieve a common goal. Developing a collaborative relationship with professionals in support departments, such as infection prevention, employee health, injury prevention or human resources, will be invaluable when addressing issues that involve these departments. Mosses, I do believe that when you are teaching new student and new nurses you have an opportunity to advocate nursing profession. Another opportunity nurses have to advocate for the profession is by promoting public understanding of the nursing role. Many people do not understand nursing role, they don’t know
An advocate is the person that defends, or supports an interest or a cause of another. Thar is applicable for nurses because there are focused an addressing different problem in need of a solution. Fr effective patient advocate, the nurse must be sure of that the patient agrees to receiving the information, know how to get the necessary data, present it in a way
According to Kadlec (2015), one of the ways to advocate patients is to work on regulation to stand for patients’ right, privacy and security . She provides a good outline for a nurse advocating in communities without delivering direct nursing care. When working on regulation, the benefit is not limited to one person or a family but individuals and families.
Advocacy can be seen as both an ethical and philosophical requirement within the profession of nursing (Gaylord & Grace, 1995). Mallik (1998) refers to it as, “good professional practice and clinical judgement…a personally and professionally binding contract, moral in nature” rather than “a duty of the professional nurse” (Chafey et al., 1998). Advocacy is an important and evolving concept not only within the nursing community but also within society as a whole. While a vast range of advocacy types can be found within society including citizen, self, and political, the primary focus for this concept analysis will be based upon patient/client advocacy in a healthcare setting.