Patient Advocate Research Paper

Nursing professionals have a variety of job responsibilities but one of the most important, if not the most important, is that of patient advocate. Advocacy is the act of supporting the patients as they navigate through the health care system. It is vital that direct care nurses develop and use advocacy skills to focus on workplace concerns, promote positive work environments, advocate for the profession and the patients. Nurses can advocate for patients in a variety of ways such as direct patient care, patient and community education, and political action. To grow into stronger advocates nurses need to understand the political, social, ethnic, organizational, financial, and discriminatory barriers to health care for individuals, and communities.

Nursing is confronted by a variety of unfavorable work conditions such as cost containment, increasing service demands, short staffing and mixed skill levels with the increasing number of new nurses in the workforce. However, regardless of these challenges, the role of patient advocate in safeguarding patients’ interests and well-being is consistently upheld. Nurses play a vital role in ensuring safe practice in hospitals through lowering risks from changes in patients’ condition, and hospital processes and detection of or correction of near-misses to prevent harm. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of building nurse-patient relationships to empower and support patients in decision-making about their care. In an article by Donadio (2016) she points out “having one’s needs identified and advocated for is an essential component of the patient’s healing journey” (p. 13) as a necessary element of the patient’s overall recovery process. The nursing profession has been consistently regarded as the most trusted member of the health team. As trustworthy advocates, nurses are engaged to speak and act on behalf of patients, families, and the communities they serve to positively influence the systems which provide care. We naturally address socioeconomic concerns

There may need to be changes in staffing ratios, positions to lighten nurse loads, and staff education on community needs and limitations. Factors of medical facility and managerial support include facility policies and practices, the healthcare reimbursement structure, and the ability to quantify and demonstrate the value of nurse contributions. Medical facility policies should support and encourage nurses to use their judgment to perform care rather than completing task-based actions. An important point made by Choi (2014) is that “the modelling of expert nurses and team-based learning emerged as essential factors facilitating the development of nurses’ advocacy role and practices” (p. 1584). A nurse leader can mentor new nurses about getting involved in health policy development. Leaders also fulfill the advocacy role by protecting nursing resources during times of budget scrutiny, work process redesign, or work flow change. It is important that all nurses engage in, and become involved in developing processes in their respective work settings to advocate for realistic changes that meet the needs of both patients and staff. Professional nursing organizations should continue to monitor health policy regulations to ensure they are supportive of patient care and