Exam 1 Leadership CH6 Patient, Subordinate, Workplace, and Professional Advocacy

Tips for Interacting with the Media—(cont.)

-Be prepared. -Stick to three or four key points. -Provide the media with clear, concise information. -Stay on track by sticking to predetermined points. -Do not be afraid to say that you do not have enough information or expertise to answer a question.

Advocating for Patients as Managers

-Creating a work environment that recognizes patients' needs and goals as paramount -Creating a work culture in which patients are respected, well informed, and empowered -Advocating for patients with regard to distribution of resources and the use of technology -Taking risks particularly when advocating for a client may be in direct conflict with a provider or institutional goal-

Common Areas Requiring Nurse-Patient Advocacy

-End-of-life decisions; aging populations -Technological advances -Health-care reimbursement -Access to health care -Provider-patient conflicts -Withholding of information -Insurance authorization -Medical errors -Patient information disclosure -Patient grievance and appeals process -Culture and ethnic diversity and sensitivity -Respect for patient dignity -Inadequate consents; complex social problems -Incompetent health-care providers

Subordinate Advocacy

-Nurse administrators should advocate for other health-care providers (including subordinates) as well as patients, especially when this is related to health and safety. -Workplace advocacy occurs when the manager works to see that the work environment is both safe and conducive to professional and personal growth for subordinates.

Advocacy

-defined as protecting and defending what one believes in for both self and others. -involves helping others to grow and self-actualize.

Nursing Values Central to Advocacy

1. Each individual has a right to autonomy in deciding what course of action is most appropriate to meet his or her health-care goals. 2. Each individual has a right to hold personal values and to use those values in making health-care decisions. 3. All individuals should have access to the information they need to make informed decisions and choices. 4. The nurse must act on behalf of patients who are unable to advocate for themselves. 5. Empowerment of patients and subordinates to make decisions and take action on their own is the essence of advocacy.

Tips for Interacting with the Media

1. Respect and meet the reporter's deadlines. 2. Assume, until proven otherwise, that the reporter will be fair and accurate in his or her reporting. 3. Have key facts and figures ready for the interview 4. Limit your key points to two or three and frame them as bullet points. 5. Avoid technical or academic jargon. 6. Speak confidently but do not be afraid to say when you do not have the expertise to answer a question or when a question is better directed to someone else. 7. Avoid being pulled into inflammatory arguments or blame setting and repeat key points if you are pulled off into tangents. 8. Provide the reporter with contact information for follow-up and needed clarifications.

Whistleblowing Concern

Although much of the public wants wrongdoing or corruption to be reported, such behavior is often looked upon with distrust, and whistleblowers are often considered disloyal and experience negative repercussions for their actions.

True or False: One way nurses can act as advocates is by directly intervening on behalf of others.

True Rationale: Sometimes it is advisable for nurses to advocate for patients by directly intervening on their behalf.

Writing a Letter to a Legislator

Write a personal letter. Be formal but polite. The letter should be one page.

Entry into a profession involves

a personal and public promise to serve others with the special expertise that a profession can provide and that society legitimately expects it to provide.

How Nurses Can Act as Advocates

Helping others make informed decisions Acting as intermediaries in the environment Directly intervening on behalf of others Advocating for social justice

Patient Rights: 1998 Patient's Bill of Rights

Helps patients feel comfortable in the system Stresses strong patient-provider relationship Stresses key role patients play in staying healthy

Controlling Patient Choices Versus Assisting Patient Choices

It is important for the patient advocate to be able to differentiate between controlling patient choices (domination and dependence) and assisting patient choices (allowing freedom).

Leader-Managers

Leader-managers also must be advocates for the nursing profession. When nurses find a discrepancy between their perceived role and society's expectations, they have a responsibility to advocate for the profession.

What are some ways nurses can advance the nursing profession?

Learn about sociopolitical issues Participate in professional organizations Rationale: It is important for nurses to participate in the larger social framework in a professional capacity in order to advance the profession as a whole.

Which should one not do when writing a letter to a legislator? Be persistent. Write a personal letter. Address the legislator by his or her title. Make the letter at least two pages long.

Make the letter at least two pages long. Rationale: The letter should be succinct and to the point (not more than one page in length).

true or false: Nurses should avoid media exposure.

False Rationale: Although many nurses avoid media exposure out of self-consciousness, in fact it is advantageous to appear in newspapers and on radio and television when the opportunity arises.

true or false: Reporting an offense to one's boss is an example of external whistleblowing.

False Rationale: Reporting a problem to a higher-up within the organization is called internal whistleblowing. External whistleblowing involves reporting outside the organization such as the media and an elected official.

Patient Rights: 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Gives patients protection in dealing with insurance companies

Nurses must exert their collective influence

and make their concerns known to policy makers before they can have a major impact on political and legislative outcomes.

Nurses must advocate

for themselves, clients, subordinates, and their profession. Advocates must inform others of their rights and make sure they have enough information to make informed decisions.

Nurses who participate in professional organizations are integral

in determining whether voluntary or legal controls represent what nursing is and should be.

External whistleblowing

involves reporting outside the organization, such as to the media or an elected official.

Many nurses avoid

media exposure because they believe they lack the expertise or because they lack self-confidence. However, nurses should take every opportunity to appear in newspapers and on radio and television.

Internal whistleblowing

occurs within an organization, reporting up the chain of command.

If nursing is to advance as a profession,

practitioners and leader-managers must broaden their sociopolitical knowledge base to understand better the bureaucracies in which they live.