Nurse Patient Advocacy Case Study

Nurses are known for acting as advocates for their patients in an Intensive Care setting. Advocacy has long been acknowledged as a vital and basic characteristic of the nursing profession since the period of Florence Nightingale. Nurses can act as advocates by helping others make informed decisions, by acting as an intermediary in the environment, or by directly intervening on the behalf of others (Marquis, 2012, p.117). Common areas which require nurse-patient advocacy include: end-of-life decisions, technological advances, access to healthcare, and complex social problems including AIDS, teen pregnancy, violence, and poverty to name a few. In this paper, I will identify and explain a situation which I observed a nurse acting as an advocate

This sophisticated technology is complex and barriers are faced due to a lack of change in professional identity. The role of the tele-ICU is still evolving but focuses on 4 areas of responsibility: performing virtual rounds, managing patient alerts, providing ICU support, and coaching or providing teaching moments (Goran, 2012). Tele-ICU is an innovative strategy that hospitals are looking for to increase patient safety. The ever increasing need to employ new grad registered nurses, travelers, and temporary staff to fill vacancies due to a nursing shortage makes tele-ICU appealing. Most hospitals are aware of patient-safety risk and errors. The goal is to decrease risk for the patient and promote optimal outcomes. This is where the tele-ICU is an excellent opportunity for hospitals to benefit. In an environment of increasing complexity in patient care, tele-ICU programs have the potential to transform the culture of bedside care by incorporating the remote team as a secondary layer of patient protection (Goran,

The demand for them will far exceed with the aging population in the near future. So where do we go from here and is tele-ICU the answer? This study looks at the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of remotely managing critical care of patients. Studies have shown that hospitals with a dedicated intensivist on staff had a significant reduction in ICU mortality and average length of stay (LOS) (Kumar, 2013). During my clinical I met five different intensivists who are employed for direct care of patients in the ICU’s at Phoebe. The tele-ICU holds great promise in improving the quality of critical care given to patients and increasing the productivity of intensivists (Kumar, 2013). There is a trend reported in literature which supports the efficacy and effectiveness of tele-ICU. It seems to be a promising path and as an advocate for patient safety I believe that nursing staff has enjoyed its presence at