¶ … Nurse as Patient Advocate
Persons who choose nursing as a profession do so because they have a deep sense that they want to help others. Most do not do it because of pay incentives. Those who choose nursing for that reason are soon disillusioned by the long hours, physical and mental fatigue that go along with it. People choose nursing because they have a need to help those in need. When they become nurses however, the role that they play is often defined by a large, bureaucratic system and they sometimes find that they must choose between their sense of doing what is right for the patient and conforming to the rules of the system.
Nurses traditionally served as helpers to the doctors, performing mundane tasks to free the doctor for other things.. Doctors make the decisions and give the orders. Nurses follow the orders that the doctor gives. Sometimes the orders that a doctor gives are in conflict with patient wishes. The nurse in this case is faced with a moral dilemma. Should she act on behalf of the patient, potentially putting her career in jeopardy, or should she just do as she is told and ignore the wants and wishes of the patient? This brings us to the primary issue at hand, "What is the role of the professional nurse in health care delivery?"
Jeanette Hewitt (2002) reviewed many articles published on the subject and came to the conclusion that the field of nursing is in general, made of a group of highly ethical people, who are charged with the care of those in need. Nurses are often powerless and must adhere to the rules under which they must operate. Sometimes a doctor may make a decision, that in the eyes of the nurse, is not in the best interest of the patient. However, under the present philosophy, is obligated to adhere to the doctor's orders. Often this emerges as a power struggle between the nursing staff and the physicians. According to Hewitt (2002), the doctors are not always the evil oppressors in this scenario and nurses do not always know all of the circumstances surrounding the case. In making decisions to go against doctor's orders, nurses must consider not only the potential consequences to their career,...
Nurse Advocacy After sixteen years of working as a nurse, I realized more fully the impact my profession and the people in it have on public health, public safety, social norms related to health, and public policy. This MSN program has effectively prepared me for the next stage of my career as a nurse advocate who actively participates in public policy development and public health initiatives. I have been strongly influenced
Nursing Is there a limit to one's professional obligation to the patient? Is that the same as advocacy? Advocacy can be construed as a professional obligation to the patient, especially when advocacy is framed as an ethical obligation. There are therefore few limits to a nurse's ethical responsibilities to the patients, even though some situations may seem morally ambiguous. Many nursing researchers promote the concept of patient advocacy as "an ethic of
The Neuman Model is appropriate for senior care. Studies necessary with other models. Penrod, et.al.; Reframing Person Centered Care for Persons with Dementia Research and Theory for Nursing Practice 2007 Lit. Review, discussion Lit. Review Research shows individual personhood approach has positive effects on care. Biomedical and psychological models must be merged for persons with dementia. Integration models Further study using different integration modeling. Rajapaksa and Rothstein; Factors That Influence the Decisions of Men and Women Nurses to Leave Nursing. Nursing Forum 2009 Case
Healthcare We can compare the healthcare workplace to what is seen by a person when he/she looks through a kaleidoscope: since there are numerous different patterns that appear as the moments pass by. The shortage of nurses which has been publicized widely and the high turnover rates amongst the nurses are some of the unwanted patterns which have occurred. The dependence of healthcare institutions on the nurse-managers for the retention and
Nursing Informatics NEW COMPETENCIES Nursing informatics or NI is a field specialty that blends and integrates the nursing, computer and information sciences in managing and transferring information and insights in nursing (Anderson, 2008; Coleman et al., 2010). It is aimed at assisting in the decision-making function of patients, nurses and other participants in patient care through information structures, processes and technology. Nurses who integrate this specialty into their regular practice are called
Nursing theory, as Nolan and Grant (1992, p. 217) correctly state, cannot be separated from the practice of the profession. On the other hand, theories that have become known collectively as "grand theory" have become so fraught with terminology discrepancies and idealistic representation that it has become impossible for practitioners to use. This has created what Nolan and Grant (1992, p. 217) refer to as the "theory-practice gap," where there
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