Patient Advocacy Sample Paper

Plan to Advocate for Patients

Describe how you plan to advocate for your patients. Include relevant policies, and stakeholders. Given the opportunity; what organization would you develop to advocate for the public and why? National Society of Nephrology is what I picked This assignment will be at least 100 words This week you will reflect upon the Affordable Care Act and Patient Advocacy to answer the following questions: How can you contribute to safe practice? Briefly define your role and tell how you will advocate for the healthcare consumer Reflect on your future role changing as a result of policy changes How do you see the role of your chosen profession changing in the near future? Patient Advocacy Sample Paper.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. Patient Advocacy Sample Paper. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. Patient Advocacy Sample Paper.

Nurses are highly skilled and trained professionals who take care of the sick. They educate patients, families, communities and populations on wellness and healthy living as well as health approaches to any chronic or current disease process and treatment. Moreover, nurses are entrusted with the duty of performing treatment and procedures as prescribed by physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Pattillo (2011) notes that a nurse is full of compassion for her fellow human beings; they possess good communication skills and good listening skills. They are required to report the progress of their patients to physicians, keep patient records, chart all patients’ observations, do the teaching procedures for patients and document communications with their patients. The nature and duties of nurses depict them as health care providers that are closest to patients and their families.Patient Advocacy Sample Paper.  They are therefore endowed with the task of advocating for the rights of patients within health care institutions. This paper discusses nurses as advocates for the patients, giving reasons why advocacy for patients’ rights should be incorporated into the nursing practice.

Nurses are better placed as advocates of patients because they are constantly interacting with patients, thus making it easy for patients to trust them and confide in them. Pattillo (2011)

describes a wide range of activities performed by nurses, which extend to the wider community. Nursing involves collaborative care of communities, individuals of all ages, groups and families; both sick and healthy (Pattillo, 2011). Nurses prevent illnesses, promote health, and care for the disabled, the ill and the dying people placed under their care. Moreover, they are advocates for promotion of safe environment, health education, research participation in shaping health policy as well as systems and patient management (Pattillo, 2011).

Marquis & Huston (2009) observe that nurses are the first health care professionals to recognize situations which are not in the best interest of patients and to report these situations to persons that could effect change. They identify and take action or report things such as questionable drug order to the physician or report an incompetent health care provider to a nursing supervisor; thus advocating for the rights of the patient (Marquis & Huston, 2009).

The American Nursing Associations Code requires nurses to be advocates of patients by reporting cases of patient abuse, including known or suspected cases of emotional, physical or sexual abuse because they constitute unprofessional conduct and form basis for disciplinary action against the culprits (Marquis & Huston, 2009). In the event that the nurse is not satisfied with how a reported case is handled to protect interest of the patient, the Code provides for nurses to pursue the case further within appropriate reporting channel and outside the agency (Marquis & Huston, 2009). According to Marquis & Huston (2009), the policy for board of registered nurses warns that reporting duties are responsibilities of individual nurses and supervisors or administrators are not required to impede or inhibit the process or subject the reporting nurse to any sanction for making the report. Patient Advocacy Sample Paper. Nurses are further advised to follow guidelines developed by the board of registered nurses concerning content of patient abuse course in identifying abuse cases that require action to protect the rights of their patients (Marquis & Huston, 2009).

Nursing advocacy plays a key role in observing safety of patients during their encounters with health care system; especially when the patient is too ill to serve his own advocate or when the patient is undergoing surgery and anesthesia. Marquis & Huston (2009) highlight that during situations of surgery, the circulating nurse must serve as the patient’s advocate, speaking for the patient and protecting patient’s wishes throughout the process. The nurse is required by the nursing code to support the cause or proposal as a result of patient’s vulnerability. Nurses serve as patients advocate by advocating improved health care practices that relate to control of infections and patient care environments as well as access to care. Marquis & Huston (2009) note that each encounter that the nurse has with his patient presents an opportunity for the nurse to serve as the advocate for the patient.

Giving voice to patients in situations where patients decide to give their full trust to health care provider or when the patients are hesitant to speak their mind is an advocacy role of nurses to their patients. Goldberg (2011) reiterates that in such situations, nurses should encourage patients to voice their wishes and provide care that focuses on meeting patients’ specific wishes. In addition, nurses should ensure that the safest procedures are observed for patients during care provision. As advocates for the patients, nurses are required to limit traffic in operating suite or delay the beginning of a surgery procedure until correct instructions are provided (Goldberg, 2011). Patient Advocacy Sample Paper. This not only eliminates carelessness but also protects the well being of patient throughout the process. Furthermore, Goldberg (2011) embraces the importance of nnurses in the preoperative arena who play a critical role by care environment monitoring, provision of safe care for the patient and promotion of best practices for prevention and control of infection. The nurse as an advocate for the patient must intervene in situations where patient’s safety is compromised like in cases where a physician does not routinely wash his hands before touching a patient or physicians who regularly violate sterile technique and ignores other practice standards. The code stipulates for nurses to recognize and address practice patterns that put patient at risk in order to protect the rights and well being of the patient.

Besides acting as advocates for patients, nurses also act as advocates for family members of the patient. Goldberg (2011) points out that positive results have been achieved through advocacy in situations where patients are very ill and at point of death; where upon request of family members to be with the patients, nurses have respected these wishes and allowed family members to be with the patient. In such situations, death conditions have been reversed with the patient’s condition improving drastically upon seeing family members. Patient’s advocacy guarantees safety and protection of patients from preventable harm as patients and their family members depend on nurses to detect and address potential safety issues (Goldberg, 2011). Patient Advocacy Sample Paper.

Nurses as advocates for patients face numerous challenges in their daily advocacy duties. Goldberg (2011) observes that some physicians may not respond or listen to nurses in a timely manner as a result of competing priorities for nurse attention and efforts, thus placing tasks before advocacy. Additionally, hierarchical and institutional constraints frequently limit nurses from role as advocates of patients; placing patient’s safety at risk. People who espouse advocacy for patients are of the opinion that nurses should achieve higher professional autonomy for rights of patients to be fully protected in hospital settings. Goldberg (2011) regrets that while medical ethics rarely addresses the freedom of physicians to establish professional relationships with patients, nursing ethics must deal with continuous challenges to freedom of practice, especially in hospital settings.

The intertwining of professional and ethical concerns, with the principles such as rights of patient and autonomy being considered in the same context as professional freedom to practice is quite challenging and places nurses at an awkward position. However, it is clear that the primary obligation of a nurse is to the patients, but not to physicians or hierarchies in health care facilities. This has gained prominence and wide acceptance within the profession. The American Nursing Associations Code requires nurses to be always alert as client’s advocates by taking necessary action on any situations of unethical, illegal or incompetent practices originating from health care system, members of health care team or actions that violate patient’s best interest. This has overtaken sections of previous code that mandated nurses to be obedient to physicians’ orders and observe high level of confidence in physicians. In addition, putting nurses as advocates for the patients has led to shift of nurses’ perceptions of their primary allegiance from physicians and hospitals to patients. Patient Advocacy Sample Paper. However, advocacy for patients may be a complex issue, especially when patients are unwilling to express their preferences or are afraid to say what they want because they believe it will alienate their physician. Sometimes disagreements may arise between choices and also the nurse may find other care professionals indifferent or opposed to wish of his patient. These reasons and others make advocating for patients a complex activity.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

In conclusion, nurses as advocates for patients have been embraced in most health care institutions. Advocacy for patients guarantees safety and protection for patients, especially in situations where patients are too ill or during surgery. Health care professionals should therefore respect the role of nurses as advocates for patients by providing adequate support and cooperation in order to attain this goal.

A patient advocate is a person who speaks with the health care providers, and their stakeholders on behalf of the patient (Torrey, 2010). The roles of a patient advocate include, talking with health care providers concerning medical requirements on behalf of the patient, negotiating insurance payments, and claiming insurance compensation on behalf of the patient. A patient advocate also takes litigation measures on health care providers (where health care providers’ actions warrant legal actions) on behalf of the patient, arbitrates, and mediates on behalf of the patient in case of occurrence of disputes between him/her with the health care providers (Torrey, 2010). Patient Advocacy Sample Paper.

As a patient advocate, I would advocate for a patient in all areas, which concern his/her, medical wellbeing. This would include educating the patient on how to maintain good health, advise the patient concerning the best medical care for specific medical conditions, ensuring he/she access proper medical care from health care providers, ensure they receive proper care from their family members, and ensure their insurance cover providers and their employers compensate them. I would also provide advocacy in dispute resolutions by ensuring that all disputes arising between them and their health care providers are settled amicably.

In order to be able to provide proper patient advocacy, I would ensure that I acquire all the relevant information concerning my patient. This would include the medical history of the patient and that of his/her family, current medical problems, the patient’s preferred method of care, patient’s ability to meet medical bills: availability of personal health insurance covers and/or group insurance covers, which are provided by employers. In addition, I would ensure that the patient’s family members are aware of the advocacy provided to one of their members, and find out if they comfortable with all aspects of the advocacy. Armed with this information, I would be in a position to ensure the patient recovers from the illness(s) suffered with much ease. Patient Advocacy Sample Paper.