Preview

Patient Advocacy Paper

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
420 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Patient Advocacy Paper
I am writing in response to a recent article in OJIN titled “Registered Nurses as Caregivers: Influencing the System as Patient Advocates” by Michelle A Lucatorto, Timothy W Thomas, and Terry Siek located in Vol-21-2016 September. Patient advocacy is of the utmost priority for a nurse. We are the primary caregiver, and most influential part of the patient’s healthcare experience. The article addresses barriers within the healthcare system which inhibit nurses in their roles of patient advocate. I am writing this letter in agreement with this fact. I firmly believe that institutional barriers are the largest impediment that a nurse faces in their roles. I am writing this letter to provide evidence to this fact, and provide additional support …show more content…
Among them are lack of resources, limited time, staffing issues, poor collaboration of team members and disciplines, and consequences of patient advocacy. The most common factors affecting advocacy are time and staffing ratios. The reduction in patient length of stay at a facility and the increase in the number of patients that a nurse is assigned decreases the amount of time a nurse gets to spend with a patient. These constraints prevent the nurse from spending the time to truly get to know their patients, and learn their needs holistically to effectively advocate. Poor interdisciplinary collaboration is the next factor. The nurse physician power struggle can have disastrous effects on advocacy. Many nurses fear confrontation from physicians when questioning care for a patient, and several physicians interpret the questioning as insubordination. When this happens many details can be overlooked or ignored creating harm to the patient. Finally consequences of being a patient advocate. When a nurse is placed in a situation where ethical issues arise from advocating it places them in a difficult position with coworkers and can create hostile work environments effecting patient

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Nut1 Task 2

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Nurses are known as patient advocates. In advocating for their patients, nurses strive for what is best in their patient’s care. Since nurses will be…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wgu Paper Essay Example

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Registered nurses have a moral and legal responsibility to uphold a patient’s rights in relation to their personal health care. An important nursing standard of practice speaks to the registered nurse acting as a patient advocate.…

    • 1538 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2002. A critical review of the arguments debating the role of the nurse advocate. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 37(5) 439-445. [Online]…

    • 4020 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The problem begins with public perception. Buresh & Gordon point out a fundamental disconnect. The public trusts and respects nurses as caregivers but does not understand the professional standard or practice of nursing (Buresh & Gordon, 2006). Buresh & Gordon movingly quote Joan Lynaugh, nurse historian, “Most people know they can’t get into a hospital without a doctor. What they don’t know is…

    • 1678 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hence, safety and quality, nursing care will be continuously improved. FNA keeps nurse leaders informed of legislative issues such as nursing shortage, staffing ratios, safety in the work environment, and patient advocacy. Through professional organizations and meetings, leaders will be cognizant of information as it relates to the state and national level of health care. It is critical to have a voice in nursing issues. In order to achieve it, one has to be active in the professional organizations, stay aware of all levels of policy development, and works in collaboration with various organizations in the interest of nursing. In order to help ensure that policy enhances good health care, nurses need to play an active role in the development and modifications in health policy (Dandurant,…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, nurses have intervened on behalf of patients and families to improve aspects of patient care. One of the ways that nurses advocate for patients is by influencing the policies that impact health inequities. These inequities that nurses observe day-to-day are linked to larger societal issues that cause disparities between populations. Because nurses see the barriers that stand in the way of healthy habits, they can be the force of change within government (Cohen & Marshall, 2016). Nurses are well-suited for this role due to the extended amount of time spent at the bedside.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Advocacy is important at all level of nursing. Advocacy is fundamental for the nursing profession's political power. With political power we can change policies, laws, and regulations and shape both the nursing practice and the work environment. As APRN we should advocate about issues that most affect our practice, our community, the public health, and the social justice. This involves knowing the laws and regulations that govern our practice acts and knowing the process of creating health policy.…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to, “The American Nurses Association Code of Ethics”, this document sets standards for nurses. It exemplifies the role of the nurse and duties to be maintained. For instance, patient advocacy is an important factor to the code of ethics. Patient safety is to be a primary goal for the nurse. I believe this is crucial for all nurses to practice. Individuals in the hospital are not necessarily capable of always expressing their needs. Therefore, it is the nurses responsibility to advocate for the patient during times they cannot. For example, one time I was caring for a patient who did not understand their diagnosis. A team of residents came into this person’s room and overwhelmed them with information. Confused, the patient was unable to understand the complexity of the illness. However, I witnessed the nurse advocating for her patient. She stepped in as a voice, making sure the patient’s questions were answered before they left. For a patient it can be quite intimidating when a group of doctors come in talking about a disease process they have never encountered. So, it was satisfying to see the nurse advocate for the patient.…

    • 574 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Provision three states “The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient” (ANA, 2001). As a nurse I feel it is my duty to advocate for my patients especially when they are naïve to care and services that could better their health, rights and safety.…

    • 2984 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Advocacy for surgical patients has two preceding events. First there is the circumstance of vulnerability where simply being a patient is to be vulnerable. The patient in his or her susceptible state might be facing conflict or in a situation that requires a decision. Other antecedents include a willing and motivated nurse to take on the responsibility for patient advocacy. Advocacy for patient rights promotes provider accountability and motivates the nurse to be proactive in educating patients and upholding patient rights regardless of the consequences. Patient advocacy is applicable to the perioperative practice environment, for it is during this time that patients experience extreme vulnerability because they often are sedated or anesthetized (Schroeter, June…

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    What this means to me is that we as nurses are our patients advocates, we are to speak for them when they can’t. We are to help educate with prevention, preventable injuries, diseases and treatments throughout our community. For a family as a whole, infancy to our elderly. Every single person in our community deserves the opportunity of dedicated nurses to advocate for them.…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    "The definition of patient advocacy is still confusing, and there is no consensus about its meaning among nurses and nurse authors" (Bu & Jezewski, 2006, p. 102). Today, many nurses have a limited view of what patient advocacy is and how to perform the challenging task of protecting and supporting patinets'rights. Greater clarity about the concept of patient advocacy is needed within the nursing field in order to improve practice.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Patient Interview Paper

    • 1714 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Across the healthcare system there are universal themes that can be applied to several fields of medicine, such as ambition to make a difference, maintaining effective communication, and overcoming obstacles that one encounters throughout his/her career. Six University of West Florida students procured six individual healthcare providers and performed semi-structured interviews with the professionals in order to gain insight into the patient-provider relationship. Five of us interviewed providers in the field of nursing, while one us interviewed a provider in the field of pharmacology. Within the domain of Nursing, our professionals included: a lead RN in the field of cardiovascular/thoracic surgery, a RN that works in the oncology department, a trauma RN who works in the emergency room, a RN who specializes in labor and delivery, a RN midwife, and a pharmacist. While both the midwife and pharmacist practice privately, all the RNs interviewed practice in a hospital setting. In the interest of length, the authors of this paper concluded that there were three characteristics most important to those interviewed: Why they chose their career, communication as a healthcare provider, and obstacles faced. In conclusion of these…

    • 1714 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nurses have a direct relationship with patients in regards to their health, they play a large role in the nursing profession in advocating for them (Mason, Leavitt, & Chaffee, 2014). The nursing profession often researches issues such as safety in the workplace, nurse/patient ratios, expanded scope of practice, and limitations on malpractice liability. The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a national organization that serve as advocates for the nursing profession. They represent the interests of nurses to members of congress, policymakers, and thought leaders (Mason et al., 2014). There are various forms of advocacy, but the ANA is vital to the nursing profession. They are important because they protect and assist nurses in regards to…

    • 171 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    just family or individual caregiver problems, they are population level and public health concerns. Philosophical imperative to protect children The Nursing profession has a strong historical foundation in social justice. Social justice is a concept that has been analyzed, argued and debated about for decades in the nursing literature, but there seems to be relative agreement that nursing has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the social determinants of health, to advocating for the underserved and the vulnerable, and for being able to promote the common good while respecting individual freedoms (McMurry, Hunter-Revell, & Roy, 2009). In her article, Megan-Jane Johnstone states that, “the nursing profession has had a longstanding commitment to social…

    • 906 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays