Patient care has always been a central aspect in terms of nursing competency and professional agenda. While providing patients with quality healthcare, nurses serve as intermediators between individuals who require medical assistance and the healthcare segment as such. Hence, nurses as medical professionals play a significant role in patient advocacy, which stands for defending patient’s rights and interests as well as securing safety for the ones who cannot advocate for themselves (Gerber, 2018). Moreover, nurses have to make sure that while standing up for the patient’s rights, they remain impartial in terms of the opinion of other medical professionals, caregivers, and family members.
When speaking of personal experience in patient advocacy, I would like to share an incident correlated with the family’s potential influence on the decision-making process. Thus, the patient was admitted to the hospital with a possible heart attack. In terms of diagnostics, it was estimated that there was no evidence of a cardiac attack, yet the man had high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. Hence, the medical intervention was conducted, including prescriptions for beta-blockers, diet, and daily physical activity.
I encouraged the family members to leave the patient at the hospital for another 72 hours in order to conduct a full-scale examination. The man was about 60 years old, and every suspicion for heart failure at this age is extremely dangerous, so the family gave their permission. However, during the conversation with the patient, he told me that his family was relieved about the absence of a heart attack, yet they were unwilling to encourage further medication intake.
They explained their decision with the fact that every man of his age had chronic heart issues. Thus, my responsibility as a patient advocate was to explain to the patient the possible complications in case he ignored treatment and diet reconsideration. As a result, I managed to convince the patient to reconsider his lifestyle and make the decision for himself. Otherwise, his heart condition would have worsened, and his next admission to the hospital would not have resulted in a heart attack suspicion.
Reference
Gerber, L. (2018). Understanding the nurse’s role as a patient advocate. Nursing 2020, 48(4), 55-58.