Patient Advocacy as an Essential Role of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses in Healthcare Delivery
Overview
This paper examines the critical role of APRNs in patient advocacy within healthcare settings. It argues that advocacy is a core ethical principle of nursing practice, essential for protecting vulnerable patients and families who lack information for informed decision-making and face health inequalities in the healthcare system.
What this essay covers
- Introduction to patient advocacy as an ethical principle guiding APRN practice
- Analysis of patient and family vulnerabilities in healthcare environments
- Historical context of nursing advocacy roles from the 1960s to contemporary practice
- Discussion of health inequalities and the unique positioning of nurses in policy formulation
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APRNs Advocacy
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APRNs Advocacy
Cafasso, M. (2019). Patient Advocacy: A Primer on Influencing Healthcare Delivery for Endocrine Patient. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 45(2019), 83. Retrieved from http://webcentral.uc.edu/eprof/media/attachment/eprofmediafile_4433.pdf
APRNs Advocacy
One of the crucial roles of APRNs is advocacy on behalf of the patient and is an ethical principle that guides nursing practice. Notably, advocacy is at the core of APRN roles. When they are within the healthcare environment, patients and families are usually overwhelmed because they lack sufficient information for them to make informed choices. These vulnerabilities require the intervention of APRNs to avoid exposure of the patient or family to dangerous circumstances (Cafasso, 2019).
Another reason that nurses play an essential role in patient advocacy results from the health inequalities that are prevalent in the health system. Nurses are trained to place the needs of patients at heart and ensure that they are protected from any form of potential harm during the process of care. It is the role of the nurses to serve, lead, and influence proper policy formulation within an institution that safeguard the needs of the patient. Due to their unique training in addressing patient issues, nurses must be positioned with physicians in formulating policies for healthcare improvement (Cafasso, 2019).
In the 1960s, nurses were found as practitioners who could serve various roles in the healthcare system. APRNs are well-equipped to address the needs of vulnerable individuals who are not able to get assistance from physicians. Concerning advocacy, nurses have been at the core of lobbying for issues that concern patients.