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Week 1 Discussion
I believe that many things are important in nursing practice. All of the aspects of the care we provide has a real and very strong strong impact on the lives of patients but, also their families. I believe in being an advocate for my patients, I always educate people on the importance of being an advocate for themselves. The truth is that, they will not always have a nurse at the bedside who truly advocates for what is best for his or her patients. I believe that advocating for patients is putting yourself and your opinions to the side and considering what the patient wants. At the same token, we need to be educators, we need to explain to our patients their real choices and what is really at stake or what their expectations should be. When we educate our patients on a diagnosis or pain levels or plan of care we need to bring facts and our education to be able to truly advocate for them. Many times I have had patients ask to be free of pain 1hr after major abdominal surgery, I educate them on what to expect, for example, pain level not being at zero at this point, and explaining medication orders. But, I also take time to think what medications are ordered for my patients and if nothing ordered for pain is working I advocate for them because I don’t want them to suffer unnecessarily.
As nurses we have the education and the background to support a persons’ wants and needs. We are their voice in front of doctors, and case manager and many other practices. We have the education to support what their needs are and know how to ask for what they truly need to help them feel better (Gerber, 2018).
Reference:
Gerber, L. (2018) Understanding the nurse’s role as a patient advocate. Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/nursing/Fulltext/2018/04000/Understanding_the_nurse_s_role_as_a_patient.15.aspx
