“Since 1973 advocacy has been considered a major component of nursing practice - politically, socially, professionally, and academically” (Selanders & Crane, 2012). With the complexity of today’s health issues, coupled with co-morbidities, multiple readmissions, and lack of understanding of diagnoses and medications, it is more important than ever that nurses advocate for their patients. Nurses are usually the first and last person a patient interacts with in the hospital or outpatient setting. They are also the person patients have the most contact with during their stay in the hospital and patients tend to express their concerns more openly with nurses then they do with anyone else. It’s up to the nurse to then advocate for the patient …show more content…
Advocacy wasn’t taught in the initial nursing programs, as it was thought that nurses should be submissive and do as they were told by physicians and those in authority above them. Florence Nightingale thought advocacy enhanced the relationship between the caregiver and patient. “It is argued that Nightingale implicitly laid the foundation for nurse advocacy and established the expectation that nurses would advocate for their patients” (Selanders & Crane, 2012) Advocacy wasn’t used in literature until 1973 by the International Council of Nurses. Since then, “the American Nurse Association states that quality practice includes advocacy as an integral component of patient safety” (Selanders & Crane, 2012). Nightingale undoubtedly laid the foundation for the nurses who have come after her who would advocate for their patients*use in …show more content…
The rights protection model sets the nurse as the patient’s defender inside the healthcare system. The nurse makes sure the patient knows what his or her rights are, then makes sure that those rights aren’t encroach on. An example of this would be that every patient has the right to pick his or her health care provider. Should the patient decide that they no longer wanted the provider they had, but that provider was assigned to them again the next day, the nurse would speak up for the patient, making sure a new provider was assigned to the patient. The values-based model has the nurse discuss the patient’s needs and choices with them, then helps them come to a decision while remaining impartial and without giving any of your own opinions as to what you think they should do. An example of this could be a patient deciding about end of life care. As their nurse, you provide them with all the information necessary for them to make an informed decision regarding their code status, then support them in what they choose, regardless of your own feelings. The third model, respect-for-persons model, sees the patient as a human being, entitled to respect. An example of this would be treating each patient as if they were a member of your family. As busy as we tend to get as nurses, imagining that patient, lying in that bed in your grandmother or uncle makes you take an extra two