Nurses have also started starting their own care business. Patients and families hire and pay these nurse advocates to help them solve difficult health problems. Examples of their services include: Being a good lawyer and being a knowledgeable nurse go hand in hand. For many nurse advocates, their nursing careers really took off when they earned their Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). In an MSN program, you can gain an advanced understanding of nursing that can help you become a better lawyer and take your career to the highest levels. An MSN degree can lead to a nursing career or allow you to go into nursing education, nursing management, nursing mentoring, and other areas that nurse leaders need, such as: Health Informatics. Patient advocacy has been an essential part of nursing since Florence Nightingale`s work during the Crimean War, although she never used the term itself. Yet their activism for healthcare reform and efforts to improve conditions in British military hospitals for soldiers led to an advocacy model that has since been used in nursing. The dictionary defines a lawyer as someone who is committed to someone else`s cause.

In nursing, advocacy means defending human dignity, promoting patient equality, and providing freedom from suffering. It is also about ensuring that patients have the right to make decisions about their own health. According to the Alliance of Professional Health Advocates (APHA), independent lawyers typically charge hourly rates of $125 to $350, depending on the lawyer`s references, location, and services. A 2018 article in Oncology Nursing News magazine proposed these strategies that nurses can implement to advocate on behalf of patients: The healthcare industry, as care shortages in our country increase, has finally recognized the critical role nurses play in providing high-quality, effective patient care. After all, nurses have the most interpersonal contact with patients, which puts them in the best position to serve as a link between patients and families or patients and doctors. Nurses are key players as patient representatives. They are, in fact, the last line of defense when a patient`s wishes are not met, as I discussed in my blog “Defending Patients by Complying with Living Wills.” The ever-changing world of healthcare, combined with more consumers accessing information at the click of a computer mouse, has led to more patients committing to their own health. Conflicting information can confuse patients and lead to disagreements between a provider and a patient.

Nurse Advocates strive to bridge the gap between providers and patients by using research training as a tool to ensure care needs are met. This means that nurse advocates are now needed in many areas of health care. Patient advocacy takes place in different contexts, and there are specific examples of nursing advocacy at the patient and organizational levels. Because the definition has evolved over time, the researchers used this approach in their study. If you want to be a successful lawyer during your nursing career, you should: The roles and duties of a nursing lawyer are manifold, but the cornerstone is patient education. Roles and tasks may include: Nurse Advocates are the voice of patients and families when they feel lost in the health care system. They act as a link between patients, healthcare providers and healthcare organisations or insurance companies. They help assess the needs of patients and families and develop a plan to meet those needs by leveraging available resources and additional staff. As a nurse, it`s not just about curing patients. It`s about being an advocate for these patients and defending their safety, desires and cultural needs. Of all the skills a nurse has, the ability to represent interests is one of the most important.

It is also one of the most difficult to develop. All nurses are patient representatives. The art of intervening for patients is taught in nursing programs from day one. It takes skill (and courage) to interview supervisors, report to a senior supervisor, or verbalize ideas that may be considered unconventional. Nurses must be confident, trained in the art of conducting difficult conversations and asserting their strengths, and be able to maintain an open mind and maintain professionalism. Unlike the procedures used to treat most conditions, advocacy can vary greatly from patient to patient. To provide good advocacy, you need to be able to understand each patient`s individual needs and remain vigilant during treatment. And you also need to be prepared to stand up for the nursing profession, so that nurses as a whole get the respect and professional protection needed to speak successfully. There are several effective advocacy strategies in nursing, both at the patient and health agency levels.

A study on nurse mentoring, published in 2020 in the journal Global Health Action, revealed the potential of using nursing mentors to improve patient care. Especially in rural areas, where there may be fewer opportunities for professional development, mentoring nurses can be beneficial in helping nurses develop their skills to improve the quality of care.