2007 Volume 16 Issue 3 Pages 13-28
The objective of the study is to clarify how clinical nurses understand nursing advocacy and patients’ rights and how they advocate for patients. Based on results obtained, I redefined the meaning of the word “advocacy”and discuss elements that compose the concept of advocacy. The study was conducted in the form of a questionnaire in 365 nurses with five or more years of clinical experience at hospitals having 300 or more beds with a palliative care unit within the Kinki region. A form, partially revised from the one developed by Davis et al. for a pilot study in 24 nurses, was used in this study, with some additional questions.
In the questionnaire, 70% of the respondents had advocated for their patients, for example, when a patient and his/her family were not provided with a satisfactory explanation for the patient’s condition, these nurses requested the doctor to provide additional explanation to the patient as well as to clarify their own doubts and questions. Their responses revealed that their workplace did not provide an environment that encouraged them to practice advocacy for patients : some workplaces with too tight working schedule and others with doctors not treating nurses as peers. Despite the respondents’ high awareness of patients’ rights, their ideas were not always fulfilled. Nurses seem to be engaged in advocacy activities while experiencing conflicts in their relationships with patients and physicians. They understand that advocacy is part of daily nursing activities.
