Advocacy in Nursing Practice: Patient Education and Advocacy

Advocacy in Nursing Practice
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Advocacy in Nursing Practice
Advocacy in nursing ensures equality among people and that they are all able to seek quality care and that their needs are met, and voices are heard, especially on crucial matters. Advocacy, in my understanding, also promotes and protects patients’ rights and enables them to be a part of the decisions necessary for their well-being (Mason et al., 2015). Health care professionals must practice as a team and take on the responsibilities that are specific to the roles—responsibilities that can be recognized and understood. This reflects expertise in the professional domain.
Educating patients is one of the two methods of advocacy and leadership that should be incorporated in nursing practice. It is quite crucial to educate patients regarding the management of their condition, be it current or chronic, which in turn improves the quality of their life. I believe it is an essential way nurses can truly create an impact. For example, patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancers can greatly benefit from the nurses guiding them on anti-nausea medication to be more effective for them and allow them to feel slightly better throughout the treatments (Mason et al., 2015). Other key concepts connected to such patient advocacy are support, empathy, and compassionate care. Patients’ trust and support are gained by providing them information, quality care, dealing with various emotional situations, being mindful of proximity, and respecting the dialogue (Kalaitzidis & Jewell, 2020). This also creates a progressive environment to speed up the recovery and healing process. Compassionate care, as mentioned earlier, is a process in itself that is accelerated when nurses put themselves in patients’ boots. This shows that patient needs are a priority, their situat...