Introduction
Although this not necessarily is apparent at first sight, patient advocacy is an essential component of nursing. The American Nurses Association (n.d.) actually insists that medical practitioners support their patients “instinctively” (para. 1). The umbrella term of advocacy comprises a range of actions and practices, among which, according to Abbasinia et al (2019), are the following: safeguarding, apprising, valuing, mediating, and championing social justice. Each of these involves particular behavioral patterns, which also can differ from situation to situation; therefore, it is possible to state that several types of advocacy exist. The presentation seeks to identify what these are. The other questions to answer regard the appropriate behavioral patterns of an advocating nurse as well as his or her responsibilities.
Safeguarding and Apprising
Safeguarding means focusing on patient safety. The primary measure to improve it is tracking medical errors (Abbasinia et al., 2019). It is critical for nurses to minimize the frequency of mistakes they make as well as protect their patients from incompetent coworkers. To enable this, all staff members need to realize that people’s well-being is their core responsibility, and advocacy is essential for maintaining it.
Apprising is providing the necessary information about the diagnosis, the treatment measures, and the prognosis. It is critical to remain patient-centered, which means discussing the treatment options with them and respecting their decisions. Potter et al. (2020) mention this approach among the fundamentals of nursing; it helps not only build a relationship of trust with patients, but also improve public health on a long-term perspective.
Valuing
An essential component of advocacy is valuing; without it, the other will be impossible. It stands for the manner in which nurses are to speak with patients as well as about them (Abbasinia et al., 2019). Notably, the patients’ preferences, beliefs, and needs should frame communication, giving them sufficient privacy and freedom to make decisions. From practitioners, such behavior requires perfect self-control, but this is not the only critical point. The American Nurses Association (n.d.) highlights that nurses should support their patients not only at workplace, but also at the community level to avoid stigmatization and discrimination of those.
Mediating
Another component, mediating, specifies one of the most important functions of junior medical personnel. Specifically, nurses are to link patients, their families, and healthcare professionals, enabling productive teamwork (Abbasinia et al., 2019). As Potter et al. (2020) insist, such behavior helps cement the healthcare system, integrating its components on the way to the common goals. It is noteworthy that nurses should be patients’ voices, that is, protect and pursue their interests. This involves not only communicating the necessity of patient advocacy to coworkers, but also the use of the available resources to simplify communication. Thus, it may be reasonable to appeal to social workers for the assessment of the needs disadvantages patients have, invite interpreters for English learners, and other.
Championing Social Justice
Finally, nurses have to provide not only healthcare, but also social justice. This, according to Scott & Scott (2020), is the point where their activity goes the furthest beyond the bedside. The change at the latter results from structural transformations of the entire system, medical, social, and political. Therefore, practitioners should oppose any rules and decisions that are unfavorable for patients, resolve ethical issues, and contribute to overcoming inequalities in access to health services (Potter et al., 2020). “Legislative and political” advocacy is another essential point in the manifest of the American Nurses Association (n.d., para. 1). This means the need to protest against the situations where patients experience oppression and, if possible, use legal tools to avoid those.
Conclusion
To summarize, advocacy in nursing lies in staying at the patients’ side at all levels of the healthcare system. Practitioners have to provide patients and their nearest people with all necessary information in a respectful manner as well as organize and maintain their interaction with healthcare professionals. In addition, they are responsible for patient safety, both in a particular facility and in the society. While the former means minimizing medical errors and incompetence, the latter presupposes a sociopolitical position that does not accept any forms of oppression against patients.
References
Abbasinia, M., Ahmadi, F., & Kazemnejad, A. (2019). Patient advocacy in nursing: A concept analysis. Nursing Ethics, 27(3), 096973301983295. Web.
American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Advocacy. Web.
Potter, P., Perry, A., Stockert, P., & Hall, A. (2020). Fundamentals of nursing (10th Ed.). Elsevier.
Scott, Sh. M., & Scott, P. A. (2020). Nursing, advocacy and public policy. Nursing Ethics, 28(5), 723-733. Web.