Advocacy Assignment: Patient/Family Advocacy

Patient Advocacy
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Patient Advocacy
Part One: Patient/Family Advocacy
Mary is a patient that has lived with type 1 diabetes for over four years. She uses a Sanofi brand of insulin called Lantus, rising in price since 2014 (Blumberg, 2021). When going for her regular checkups, she insists that the nurse prescribes fewer injections per day because she cannot afford her insulin. The nurse is entirely against Mary's idea of reducing her injections; however, she is aware of the economic constraints of the treatment of type 1 diabetes. Patient advocacy occurs in three stages, identifying patient advocacy goals, planning and implementing advocacy actions, and evaluating patient advocacy outcomes. Therefore, the nurse in charge of Mary's medical situation will assess her case through these three processes.
The main goal of advocacy in healthcare is creating an environment where patients and families are involved directly in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of care. The objectives of patient advocacy in the above scenario are to ensure the well-being of Mary. For her treatment to be effective, it is paramount she does not miss any of her injections. Therefore, the nurse will plead her case to the necessary stakeholders to ensure a solution is achieved. Identification and implementation of advocacy actions happen by engaging the required authorities. In this stage, nurses can use their expertise and resources to find local programs that provide significant cost reduction and prescription and treatment pricing. By doing this, the nurse can persuade specific pharmaceuticals to match the pricing or offer a deal that ensures Mary can afford to keep up with her prescriptions. Evaluating the outcomes is the third process of patient and family advocacy, intended to analyze the subsequent positive and negative consequences. By advocating Mary's case to the pharmaceuticals, the positive outcome is that Mary will afford the treatment. The negative result is a possible conflict of interest between the pharmaceuticals and the hospital employing the nurse.
Patient advocacy's primary need is for nurses to act as mediators or a direct link between patients and doctors that may have overlooked specific patient solutions. They can use their expertise to persuade those in positions to do more to ensure the economic, medical, and social needs of patients and their families are met. Patients are also able to make informed decisions regarding their health by navigating complex medical situations. Planning and implementation of advocacy actions is a challenging exercise. Resources needed for advocacy varies from hospital to hospital, depending on the size of the operation. Staffing is responsible for effective advocacy with a staff liaison accountable for recruitment, training, and identifying opportunities to involve advisors in hospital activities. Cost also makes up the resources of the advocacy operation. The price can be incurred with printing communicative documents, payment of volunteers, and background checks on advisors. Also, some hospitals may choose to reimburse patients and families for expenses to help them get through treatments. Evaluating patient advocacy outcomes is crucial to ensu...