Discussion: Nursing Advocacy in US

NURSING ADVOCACY
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Over the past few years, there has been a growing realization of the importance and need to embrace nursing advocacy as an integral part of the field. It might have an abstract meaning of mixing politics with the profession, but its overall benefits are quite immense in the field of nursing as a whole. Having an individual or even individuals in the policy-making levels of the country who have first-hand knowledge and experience of what is being experienced by nurses on the ground, is crucial in helping address their plight more vigorously. The legislations formulated therein are the ultimate tool to use in addressing these issues.
Nursing advocacy refers to taking care of human dignity, fostering patient equality, and providing freedom from suffering. Advocacy ensures that patients have their rights to make decisions concerning their health. According to Brent (2018) most nursing advocacy instances of such kind often go unnoticed, flying under the radar, since it focuses on individual patients and their overall welfare. Only a few get out of the bag to garner widespread attention. It also helps nurses to offer support objectively to avoid showing the approval or disapproval of the patient’s choices. In the past few years, there has been legislation that has occurred as a result of nursing advocacy, such as the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act.
The United States government, in the National Nursing Shortage Reform and Patient Advocacy Act, passed laws that determine the minimum nurse-patient ratios per unit in the hospitals (NNU, n.d). The Act basically helps to ensure that there is a provision for additional nurses in situations where the average nurse to patient ratio has been exceeded. Michigan Nurses Association has already implemented this. It has helped to eradicate understaffing...