Discuss the importance of advocacy as it pertains to patient care. What is the nurse's role in patient advocacy?

 

Advocacy is defined as acts that appear to speak on behalf of those in favour of others in terms of promoting, arguing for a cause, endorsing or protecting. Patient advocacy refers to the act of preserving human dignity, promoting the patient equality and providing them with freedom from suffering.

Importance of advocacy as it pertains to patient care include;

Advocacy enables patients to have freedom from suffering which tends to involve the act of helping and preventing or managing the suffering which a patient is going through. This is one of the most important aspect of patient care which is always achieved through physical, emotional or the physiological level.

Advocacy enables patient to be treated with compassion, respect and dignity where their cultural values are honored as they receive patient care in the healthcare organizations. This will enable patient to be fully informed about their own health care decisions.

Through advocacy patient tend to receive information and education which are used to explain about diagnosis and treatment as the patients receive care which will establish an agreement between the health care provider and the patient which is one of the goals of patient care.

Through advocacy patients tend to receive physical comfort and emotional support where by they get assistance with their daily activities and their anxiety over illness are addressed as they receive patient care, an act which contributes greatly to patient satisfaction.

Roles of the nurses in patient advocacy.

• It is the role of the nurse to ensure safety of the patient where by they should ensure that the patient is safe when being treated in a health care facility and also during discharging by taking an action of communicating with the case managers about the patients needs at home or after the discharge.
• It the role of the nurse to give a patient a voice when when they are being attended to by physicians and doctors where by they can help the patient understand his or her diagnosis and ask questions.
• It is the role of the nurse to educate a patient on how certain conditions should be managed so as to improve the quality of their health and so that they can be in a position to make a difference in their every day life.
• It is the role of the nurse to connect a patient to resources that is help the patient find resources around the hospital setting whether it is inside or outside the hospital .
  • It is the role of the nurse to protect the patient rights by being in a position to know the wishes of the patient and communicating to family members to make the understand the choices of the patient.