The Nurse as an Advocate for the Patient

The Nurse as an Advocate for the Patient Nurses argon highly skilled and trained professionals who take cargon of the sick. They educate diligents, families, communities and populations on wellness and wellnessy living as well as wellness approaches to every chronic or current disease process and treatment. Moreover, throws are en assumptioned with the duty of per grading treatment and procedures as prescribed by mendeleviums, physician assistants and nurse pr inciteitioners. Pattillo (2011) nones that a nurse is full of compassion for her fellow benevolent beings they possess good communication skills and good listening skills. They are take to chronicle the progress of their perseverings to physicians, keep patient records, chart all patients observations, do the teaching procedures for patients and document communications with their patients. The nature and duties of nurses depict them as health complaint providers that are closest to patients and their families. They are therefore endowed with the confinement of advocating for the rights of patients within health dole out institutions. This paper discusses nurses as aids for the patients, giving reasons why protagonism for patients rights should be incorporated into the treat formula. Nurses are better set(p) as advocates of patients because they are constantly interacting with patients, thus making it easy for patients to trust them and confide in them. Pattillo (2011)describes a wide range of activities performed by nurses, which puree to the wider community. Nursing involves collaborative boot of communities, individuals of all ages, groups and families both sick and reasoning(a) (Pattillo, 2011). Nurses prevent illnesses, promote health, and apportion for the disabled, the ill and the dying people primed(p) under their care. Moreover, they are advocates for promotion of safe environment, health education, research club in shaping health policy as well as systems and patient manage ment (Pattillo, 2011). Marquis Huston (2009) ob come that nurses are the first health care professionals to recognize situations which are not in the best recreate of patients and to report these situations to persons that could effect change. They identify and take action or report things such as questionable drug order to the physician or report an incompetent health care provider to a nursing supervisor thus advocating for the rights of the patient (Marquis Huston, 2009).The American Nursing Associations enter requires nurses to be advocates of patients by account cases of patient abuse, including known or suspected cases of emotional, fleshly or sexual abuse because they constitute unprofessional conduct and form basis for disciplinary action against the culprits (Marquis Huston, 2009). In the event that the nurse is not satisfied with how a reported case is handled to cherish interest of the patient, the Code provides for nurses to pursue the case further within appropri ate reporting telephone line and outside the agency (Marquis Huston, 2009). According to Marquis Huston (2009), the policy for board of registered nurses warns that reporting duties are responsibilities of individual nurses and supervisors or administrators are not required to button up or inhibit the process or subject the reporting nurse to any sanction for making the report. Nurses are further advised to look on guidelines developed by the board of registered nurses concerning content of patient abuse score in identifying abuse cases that require action to protect the rights of their patients (Marquis Huston, 2009). Nursing protagonism plays a key employment in observing natural rubber of patients during their encounters with health care system especially when the patient is too ill to serve his own advocate or when the patient is undergoing mathematical process and anesthesia. Marquis Huston (2009) cotton up that during situations of surgery, the circulating nurse mu st serve as the patients advocate, speaking for the patient and protecting patients wishes throughout the process. The nurse is required by the nursing decree to support the cause or proposal as a leave of patients vulnerability. Nurses serve as patients advocate by advocating improved health care practices that relate to control of infections and patient care environments as well as access to care. Marquis Huston (2009) note that each encounter that the nurse has with his patient presents an opportunity for the nurse to serve as the advocate for the patient. Giving fathom to patients in situations where patients decide to give their full trust to health care provider or when the patients are hesitant to speak their mind is an advocacy role of nurses to their patients. Goldberg (2011) reiterates that in such situations, nurses should encourage patients to voice their wishes and provide care that focuses on meeting patients specific wishes. In addition, nurses should ensure tha t the safest procedures are discover for patients during care provision. As advocates for the patients, nurses are required to limit traffic in operating suite or delay the beginning of a surgery procedure until correct instructions are provided (Goldberg, 2011). This not only eliminates disuse but as well as protects the well being of patient throughout the process. Furthermore, Goldberg (2011) embraces the wideness of nnurses in the preoperative arena who play a critical role by care environment monitoring, provision of safe care for the patient and promotion of best practices for prevention and control of infection. The nurse as an advocate for the patient must intervene in situations where patients safety is compromised like in cases where a physician does not routinely wash his hands in front touching a patient or physicians who regularly violate uninventive technique and ignores other practice standards. The code stipulates for nurses to recognize and address practice pa tterns that put patient at risk in order to protect the rights and well being of the patient. Besides acting as advocates for patients, nurses also act as advocates for family members of the patient. Goldberg (2011) points out that positive results have been achieved through advocacy in situations where patients are very ill and at point of death where upon gather up of family members to be with the patients, nurses have respected these wishes and allowed family members to be with the patient. In such situations, death conditions have been reversed with the patients condition improving drastically upon seeing family members. Patients advocacy guarantees safety and protection of patients from preventable harm as patients and their family members depend on nurses to detect and address potential safety issues (Goldberg, 2011). Nurses as advocates for patients face numerous challenges in their daily advocacy duties. Goldberg (2011) observes that some physicians may not reply or liste n to nurses in a timely manner as a result of competing priorities for nurse attention and efforts, thus placing tasks before advocacy. Additionally, stratified and institutional constraints frequently limit nurses from role as advocates of patients placing patients safety at risk. People who espouse advocacy for patients are of the opinion that nurses should achieve higher(prenominal) professional autonomy for rights of patients to be fully protected in hospital settings. Goldberg (2011) regrets that while medical ethics rarely addresses the immunity of physicians to gain professional relationships with patients, nursing ethics must deal with continuous challenges to freedom of practice, especially in hospital settings. The intertwining of professional and ethical concerns, with the principles such as rights of patient and autonomy being considered in the same context as professional freedom to practice is quite challenging and places nurses at an gummy position. However, it is clear that the primary obligation of a nurse is to the patients, but not to physicians or hierarchies in health care facilities. This has gained prominence and wide credenza within the profession. The American Nursing Associations Code requires nurses to be always appall as clients advocates by taking necessary action on any situations of unethical, illegal or incompetent practices originating from health care system, members of health care team or actions that violate patients best interest. This has overtaken sections of previous code that mandated nurses to be obedient to physicians orders and observe high level of confidence in physicians. In addition, putting nurses as advocates for the patients has led to shift of nurses perceptions of their primary allegiance from physicians and hospitals to patients. However, advocacy for patients may be a complex issue, especially when patients are backward to express their preferences or are afraid to say what they want because they guess it will alienate their physician. Sometimes disagreements may arise between choices and also the nurse may find other care professionals indifferent or opposed to wish of his patient. These reasons and others make advocating for patients a complex activity. In conclusion, nurses as advocates for patients have been embraced in most health care institutions. Advocacy for patients guarantees safety and protection for patients, especially in situations where patients are too ill or during surgery. Health care professionals should therefore respect the role of nurses as advocates for patients by providing adequate support and cooperation in order to attain this goal.