Advocating for End of Life Care. Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay

Advocating for End of Life Care
Student’s Name
Institution
Advocating for End of Life Care
End of life care presents an array of challenges to healthcare providers, especially when the goals of the patient’s family differ from the goals of end of life care. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) (2016), the key goals of end of life care are enhancing comfort, quality of life, and dignity for the patient. Yet, families may at times hinder these goals. This happens when the patient’s family is directing care or is going against a patient’s advanced directives (Beckstrand, Mallory, Macintosh, & Luthy, 2018). When a patient is cognitively impaired and the family is directing certain aspects of care or has overruled the patient’s advanced directive, nurses’ advocacy role becomes even more important.
I would advocate for a patient in such a situation by building a trustful relationship with the family. As a nurse, it is my responsibility to share crucial information about the patient’s health status not only with the patient but also ...