Assignment:Patients Advocacy In Nursing
Assignment:Patients Advocacy In Nursing
Assignment:Patients Advocacy In Nursing
Advocacy
Advocacy entails creating support for an issue or cause and influencing other individuals to take action. Advocates contribute to change by influencing and directing decision-makers toward a specific course (Williams et al., 2018). Every nurse has an opportunity to positively impact the nursing profession through day-to-day advocacy for nurses and the profession.
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In my current practice in Emergency Medicine, I have seen nurses advocate for patients within the ER. For example, ER nurses have time after time acted as mediators between patients and physicians who sometimes overlook various patients’ needs and solutions. I have seen ER nurses act as patients’ advocates by alerting the physicians when they make an inaccurate diagnosis, order an unnecessary diagnostic test, or prescribe a wrong drug or dosage. This type of advocacy has been vital in preventing medication errors and promoting patient safety (Williams et al., 2018). Furthermore, it helps to lower medical costs from unnecessary tests and the adverse effects of medication errors. I have also seen nurses advocate for patients when they are discharged or transferred from the ER against the discharge/transfer policy.
Another example of advocacy among nurses in the ER is advocacy with patients’ families. We often have patients being admitted to the ER in unconscious states and incapable of making treatment decisions. In such cases, the patient’s relatives, particularly the next of kin are obligated to make the medical decisions and give consent. Some relatives often make harmful decisions and at times decline to consent to vital treatment procedures. I have seen ER nurses extend their advocacy efforts to create connections with the patient’s family (Nsiah et al., 2019). The nurses often intervene when family members make decisions that will be detrimental to a patient’s health. This is by educating them on the pros and cons of the decisions they are making and guiding them on the best options for the patient.
References
Nsiah, C., Siakwa, M., & Ninnoni, J. P. K. (2019). Registered Nurses’ description of patient advocacy in the clinical setting. Nursing open, 6(3), 1124–1132. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.307
Williams, S. D., Phillips, J. M., & Koyama, K. (2018). Nurse advocacy: adopting a health in all policies approach. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(3).
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What examples of advocacy do you see in your own nursing practice? List and discuss 2 examples. my nursing practice is Emergency Medicine.
Submission Instructions:
Your initial post should be at least 500 words, formatted and cited in current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources.
