Why is client advocacy important

The following forms the basis of nursing advocacy: preserving human dignity, patient equality and freedom from suffering. In many medical situations, patients and their families are anxious and confused.

A calm, experienced nurse can help patients navigate an unfamiliar system and communicate with their physicians. In some cases, nurses also educate the patient about tests and procedures.

In general, nurses are in a unique position that allows them to integrate all aspects of patient care, ensuring that concerns are addressed, standards are upheld and positive outcomes remain the goal. The healthcare system is constantly changing, both in terms of organization and technological advancement. With these changes come shifting regulations related to the delivery of care and health services. Nurses enter the profession because they have a desire to help others.

The core value of helping to prevent or manage suffering is a significant part of this. This can be achieved at the physical, emotional or psychological level, and is one of the most important aspects of patient care. Nursing professionals should be available for patients and their families as advocates for their well-being.

They can easily misunderstand diagnoses and treatment options. Such misunderstandings can result in the less effective use of medical services. For example, patients may undergo duplicate diagnostic tests, miss appointments, or take the wrong medication dosage. Hard-to-interpret health insurance coverage sometimes results in patients not taking full advantage of what is available to them. Other times, patients mistakenly pay inaccurate medical bills containing errors or charges that were actually covered by their health insurance plans.

While the national conversation on health care has focused on ways to address these problems, many patients need individual guidance. Healthcare advocates can help. Healthcare advocates give patients and their families direct, customized assistance in navigating the healthcare system. How do patients and healthcare advocates connect? Sometimes patients and their families hire independent health advocates or individuals who work for advocacy organizations.

Employers, insurance companies, and hospitals may also offer patients health advocates. In fact, a Harvard Business Review analysis found that 52 percent of patients in the U. Whether assisting patients concerned about an unclear diagnosis or clarifying confusing medical charges, health advocates offer a range of services:.

Examining healthcare policy and patient support roles makes it easy to understand why advocacy is important in health care. Healthcare advocacy on a large scale guides lawmakers and leaders who form healthcare policy.

It supports a well-informed decision-making process regarding programs that affect:. Broad healthcare advocacy encourages reforms that put the newest research into practice and cultivate better partnerships within the healthcare industry. When successful, healthcare advocacy that influences public policy improves individual and community health, which reduces health disparities. Such advocacy guides health policy goals, gets priority legislation passed, and secures the funding needed to support the new policies enacted.

They worked to educate policymakers on how to address care coordination, use telehealth, and manage privacy issues to best help patients and save lives. In the past and present, health reform efforts have impacted medical research and education. That ultimately led to the development of anti-retroviral treatments available today that keep millions of people alive.

In an effort to dismantle systemic racism in health care, advocacy groups like White Coats for Black Livesare pushing for initiatives to diversify healthcare faculty.

One project involves advocating for medical education training that combats discriminatory practices and implicit biases. In addition to navigating the U. For example:. While some patients have family members who can help, many do not. A trained healthcare advocate helps protect patients and ensures their needs are met. Prior to the COVID pandemic, a year-old woman with a heart condition attended events at a local community center and had an active social life.

Her activities and routines helped her keep up with her prescriptions. She remembered to go to the pharmacy when she went to choir practice; her afternoon visits with friends reminded her to take her evening meds.

Qualitative research is suitable for studies on relatively new areas of knowledge Patient advocacy is a very complex topic in the health care system 9. Patient advocacy, like other ethical issues, is related to the socio-cultural context. Therefore, the conventional content analysis approach was used in the present article to study patient advocacy in nursing. A total of 18 semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted from June until June to collect the data; 3 interviews were repeated.

The duration of the interviews was 25 to 75 minutes with an average of The location and the duration of the interviews were selected by the participants. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously. The interviews were recorded and, in order to obtain a general understanding, were studied at least 3 times. The recordings were transcribed verbatim.

The obtained data were analyzed according to the following steps In order to gain a general understanding of them, the interviews were studied several times, and then, they were transcribed verbatim.

The compact semantic units were converted into abstract terms and assigned a specific code. The emerged codes were categorized based on their differences and similarities into subclasses and classes. The research team found no new information of relevance to their study in the data in the 15 th interview. This is interpreted as data saturation in qualitative research, and thus, no more interviews were needed A-Credibility: It shows that the identification and introduction of research participants are accurate.

B-Dependability: It shows that data remain stable over time and under different conditions. C-Conformability: It shows objectivity, that is, the potential for congruence between different independent individuals on the accuracy, relevance, or meaning of the data. D-Transferability: It shows the potential to generalize the findings of the study Authenticity is an additional criterion that shows the extent to which researchers indicate a range of realities fairly and faithfully Due to the prolonged and continuous engagement of the researcher with the data, the participants, and member checking, the credibility of the study increased.

For this purpose, the researcher gave a typed summery of the interviews to the participants, so they could confirm his interpretations. In order to meet the confirmability of the data, peer check was used.

The researcher first coded and classified each interview, and then, presented these classifications and codes to other members of the research team for evaluation.

The codes which were not agreed upon were discussed until achieving clarification and consensus. To control the dependability of the data, the researcher retained the preliminary data, codes, categories, and themes. To achieve transferability or stability of the results, sampling was carried out with great variety to contribute to the credibility of data. This study and its ethical considerations were approved by and the necessary permits were obtained from the Research Deputy of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

All participants consented to the recording of the interviews, and after receiving the necessary information, they signed an informed consent form. In the present study, 15clinical nurses with an average work experience of 8 years and 3 months and mean age of The participants were selected from educational and non-educational hospitals in different provinces of Iran to gain an adequate variation in experiences and perspectives of nurses regarding patient advocacy in nursing.

Interesting results were obtained from content analysis. Understanding is a psychological relationship between the individual who knows and what they know. This relationship presented itself as patient advocacy in the present study. The nurses in this study tried to defend their patients, because one day they might become a patient and require care themselves. I do not have any problems with the patients. In the same circumstances, we, ourselves, would want a favorable healthcare service.

We would expect an accurate diagnosis from the physician. We would want good healthcare services and would expect to see results. Compassion, as an outstanding human characteristic, is a response to the suffering of others and the cause of helping them. In fact, compassion is synonymous with co-suffering. Humans cannot simply overlook the problems of others. They are affected by the suffering and pain of one another, seek solutions to alleviate the pain, and become patrons to others.

I cannot stand seeing patients suffer. They feel vulnerable. I try my best to help them. This theme is defined as the sense of unity with others. This sense does not depend on the conditions of others. It exists in pain or pleasure, but is more common in pain.

Humans feel close to their fellow men and perceive their problems as their own. They try to share their sad and happy moments. Nevertheless, this feeling is stronger toward children and their immediate family members, and is heightened during illnesses. Nurses who have this feeling of closeness tend to defend their patients as they would defend themselves. Participant number 15 stated: [ I feel closer to some of the patients, for example, in the Thalassemia unit, especially children who refer to receive blood.

I become friends with some of their families. The Thalassemia unit is the second home of these children. I do not withhold anything from the patients. This phrase means caring for the patient in general. It is caution toward others with the aim to prevent individuals from being harmed.

One of the main tasks of nurses is to protect patients against injuries and possible risks. These risks may be physical, mental, deliberate, inadvertent, or due to insufficient treatment or incorrect care.

Most nurses have experienced this responsibility as a patient advocate. Participant number 7 in confirming the above statements said: [ We must monitor the patient for any side effects of the medication that is being used. The patient is here to get better not to get worse. While working at hospitals, different problems may occur for the nurses. These problems may include family or career issues, interactions with co-workers, or any other problem, and cause the nurses to prioritize their duties.

In this case, most of the nurses participating in this study have pronounced the health of their patients as their first priority. Participant number 5 described this skill as: [ When I find that something is not in the best interest of the patient for example, the behavior of a colleague, or the treatment method or the care being provided by my colleague , I do not think whether my colleague will get upset with me.

As hard as it may be, I try to only focus on my patient before entering the unit. By selecting this label for the category, we purposed to address the topic of follow-up in nursing. Patient follow-up is a part of nursing care, and without it, nursing care remains incomplete.

Become a Stronger Patient Advocate. Published On: September 03, Updated On:. Assess a patient's needs, alertness, cognitive function and understanding of their rights.

Identify the patient's health goals. Explain hospital and community agency policies and clinical information in terms that patients can comprehend. Facilitate communication with members of the healthcare team so they are informed about a patient's goals and preferences.

Evaluate the plan along the way and make adjustments as necessary. Why Is Patient Advocacy Important? They are: Accountable Empathetic Flexible Nonjudgmental Objective Self-motivated Patient advocacy is part of a nurse's commitment to the standards of the nursing practice. Request Information. How did you hear about us?