February 1st reading on advocacy

Advocacy is speaking up for a patient when they are not able to speak for themselves.

I have not been in a situation where I have had to be a big advocate for a patient, but I have had several small expereince of little things I have done. Sometimes I think that as nurses doing our jobs we do not think that the small things we do every shift count as having been an advocate. For example every shift it is my job to do chart checks. These chart checks include reviewing the patients medications and making sure there is an order for each medication on the patients E-MAR. I also check to make sure that all orders for labs and any other test have been ordered, and that any other orders for the day have been compleated. A patient can look at their chart if they want to but because they may not understand all of the medical jargan it would not make sence to them. Therefore I feel that this simple part of my job is being an advocate for my patient.

Another time when nurses are being advocates and may not think much of it because they do it all of the time, is when we call the doctors. For example when our patients are not getting their pain controlled and there is a need to try something different. The patient can tell you about their pain but they can not call the doctor, and most patients do not have the knowledge about pain medication to know what to ask for.

I know that somtimes as a night nures we will debate about calling a doctor because sometimes they are just so darn cranky when you call at night. This is an area that I can improve on. Just because the doctor is cranky our patients should not have to suffer in pain all night.