Advocacy: What Is It, and Why Do I, as a Nurse, Need to Do This for My Client?
What is the power of advocacy?
Advocacy is supporting or defending a cause, person, or group. It involves speaking up on behalf of patients. It's important to note that advocacy is not about imposing the nurse's views or decisions on the patient, which would be considered paternalism. Instead, advocacy is about ensuring the patient is heard about their wishes and the family gets the information they need to make correct decisions for the client.
Example of Advocacy Outside of Nursing:
Consider a lawyer advocating for a client in court. They represent their client's best interests, ensuring their voice is heard and they receive fair treatment under the law. Similarly, a teacher might advocate for a student by working with school administrators to ensure the child receives special accommodations or resources based on their unique needs.
This is advocacy in action—standing up for someone’s needs and rights when they cannot do so themselves.
How will you use advocacy to help your clients?
When Is Advocacy Used in Nursing?
Advocacy in nursing is used in a variety of situations, including but not limited to:
- Informed Consent: Ensuring patients fully understand their treatment options and can make informed decisions.
- Patient Safety: Speaking up if something in the patient’s care seems unsafe or inappropriate.
- End-of-Life Care: Supporting a patient’s wishes regarding life-sustaining treatments and communicating those wishes to the healthcare team.
- Healthcare Disparities: Addressing social determinants of health, such as access to care, that might prevent a patient from receiving appropriate treatment.
A nurse might advocate for a patient scheduled for a procedure they don't fully understand or feel uncomfortable with. The nurse could intervene by ensuring the patient receives thorough explanations from the medical team and helping them weigh the pros and cons of their options. If the patient decides against the procedure, the nurse ensures the care plan respects and follows this choice.
Consider this: A client has voiced to the nurse that the plan of care for her cancer is more than she wants to go through. She has fought for 4 years and is tired and ready to stop. The doctors and other healthcare providers are pushing for her to continue and go into a research program that has shown great progress in starting a remission. The nurse voices the client’s wishes to the healthcare professionals and the doctor. The plan of care is changed to pallative care with hospice.
A nurse listening to her patient’s concerns so that she can advocate for the patient.
Who Is the Advocate—The Doctor or the Nurse?
While doctors can advocate for their patients, nurses are often the primary advocates in healthcare settings. Nurses spend the most time with patients, develop close relationships with them. Nurses have a holistic view of their patients, considering not just their physical health but also their emotional, social, and psychological needs.
How Does Advocacy Help the Client and Their Family?
Advocacy ensures patients receive care aligned with their values, preferences, and needs. It helps to:
- Empower Patients: Patients gain more control over their healthcare decisions.
- Build Trust: Advocacy strengthens the relationship between patients, families, and healthcare providers.
- Improve Communication: Nurses act as liaisons, translating complex medical jargon into understandable language for patients and families. It also helps families by keeping them informed, supporting their decision-making process, and alleviating anxiety when navigating healthcare systems.
What Benefits Are There for the Client and Their Family?
- Personalized Care: Advocacy ensures that care plans are tailored to the patient's needs.
- Protection of Rights: Patients are treated with respect and dignity, and their wishes are honored.
- Reduced Anxiety: When patients and families know someone is advocating for their best interests, they feel more supported and less anxious.
Nurses can employ various strategies to advocate for their patients effectively. It is crucial for nurses to attentively listen to their clients and families' nonverbal cues and then follow up by asking questions to encourage them to voice their concerns. How should nurses address situations where the patient's preferences differ from the recommendations of the healthcare team? What legal and ethical considerations should nurses consider when advocating for their patients? Advocacy for patients is firmly embedded in the nursing code of ethics and nurse practice acts in many states, providing a solid foundation for supporting clients and their families. Nurses must maintain a professional demeanor and approach when advocating for their patients.
Advocacy is not just a part of nursing; it is an essential aspect that goes hand-in-hand with patient care. As a nurse, you have the unique responsibility and privilege of being the voice for those who may not have the strength or knowledge to speak for themselves. By advocating for your patients, you help ensure they receive the best medical care and the respect, dignity, and compassion they deserve.
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I encourage you to read and share your experiences in the comments, and I invite them to read other related blogs on nursing professionalism.
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments:
Your patient has decided they no longer want to pursue cancer treatment, but their medical team and doctors are pushing for a research treatment program.
What would you do as the patient’s nurse?
How would you advocate for them?
2. How have you advocated for a patient?
Any tips or stories you'd like to share with your fellow new nurses?
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