Lindsey Gamrat
NURS-S474
Letter to Coach #2
From day one, we have been told in our nursing classes that a nurse should be an
advocate for the patient. It is something that we have heard over and over again despite almost
all of us admitting that we do not know what it truly means to be an advocate, yet alone how to
act as one. Merriam Webster defines the verb “advocate” as “to support or argue for; to plead
in favor of." Our ATI textbook takes this definition further by explaining that nursing advocacy
specifically involves ensuring that patients are properly informed, their rights are respected and
that they are receiving the proper level of care. This description is vague but is representative
of the kind of education on advocacy that we have thus far received. We are told that we
should be advocates and given a basic outline of what that should look like, but no one has
taught us how to be this voice for the patient.
In order to be an advocate for a patient, it is my belief that we also need to learn how to
be an advocate for our profession and for ourselves. If a nurse is not confident in her abilities
and questions her role as a nurse, how is she able to take her work to a deeper level and truly
fight for the patient and his or her beliefs? Sometimes, the nurse may not agree with the
patient or family’s beliefs and yet she is still expected to serve as an advocate. We have not
been prepared to deal with these types of moral dilemmas until this ethics course near the end
of our education. To be an advocate, one must understand their moral background and
anticipate their reactions to patient situations. He or she must also not be afraid to voice
concerns and speak to individuals at a higher authority to collaborate and provide the best care
for the patient. Even though if you ask any nursing student they would state that the patient
should always come first, we have demonstrated that this is not the case. Most of us would put
our fear of losing a job, “bothering” a busy MD, being wrong and thus ridiculed, etc. in front of
the patient’s care. I am not really sure that I know why this is the case, but it seems to be the
truth. At this point in our nursing education, we are unsure and unconfident in our roles and
unprepared to deal with these types of situations.
Advocacy is something that I feel cannot really be taught in a class or textbook. I
honestly feel that our best bet to become more prepared before entering the workplace is
being enrolled in this course. Many of us were not even aware that we did not know how to be
an advocate; we were just told that as a nurse we were automatically a patient advocate. This
course has made us aware that it is much more complex than that. By engaging in Socratic
dialogue and being challenged in ways that we have not been challenged before, I feel that this
is the best preparation we have had to become a good advocate for our future patients. We
have been put outside our comfort zone and forced to question our own moral backgrounds
and reasoning skills. This type of course is allowing us to begin practicing dealing with these
feelings of insecurity and moral questioning and confront them. By the end of our time in this
class, we will still probably not be able to adequately advocate for a patient but we will have a
very strong foundation to build upon once we enter the profession. Most importantly, we have
been made aware of the issue of advocacy and that we are lacking. Personally this concerns me
and my future practice and I know that I will work hard to understand what it truly means to
advocate for patients and put the skills that I learn into practice.