How do you get it through nurses heads that we MUST be patient advocates?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Sigh.......any suggestions?

Lesson

Arrogant world famous MD violates patient human rights.

Unit boss and 5 of 6 nurses sign written statements of regarding unethical behavior of MD.

Hospital greivance committee cuts world famous MD hospital privileges.

Unit boss pressured out of job.

4 nurses no longer employed at that unit after 6 months

MD privileges returned

test question

was it worth it.

answer...no

moral

patient advocacy is myth created by nurses who wish they were doctors but were unable or unwilling to pay the price for the power.

we were right and the hospital agreed but we are the unemployed ones.

so just follow your orders and keep your opinions to yourself....that is our role.

if you want to be more than that then go to medical school and earn the power.

as far as waking up a mad doctor for pain meds...that not patient advocacy thats just nursing.

seriously, are you for real or are you being facetious? :confused:

leslie

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Specializes in Critical Care/ICU.

patient advocacy is myth created by nurses who wish they were doctors but were unable or unwilling to pay the price for the power.

so just follow your orders and keep your opinions to yourself....that is our role.

No. I don't want to be a doctor, maybe an NP, but not a doctor.

My role is patient advocate. I'd be fired if I did not advocate for my patient, but it seems like I work for a freak of healthcare unit with supportive management, co-workers, and docs who ask me questions.

p.s. sorry about the situation you described, but don't let it jade you...there are good places out there

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world famous doctor will eventually go down ---watch and see........He will mistreat the wrong(richer, more powerful or family member of such) person and the nurse and he will be out of the loop. Advocacy is not a myth. It works if you make it work. If the wolves sense fear they will attack Do not follow a bad order. Do not accept unethical treatment of your patients--just remember that could be your Mother or Father in that bed, treat them as such and you will never go wrong. Do you really at to work in a place that treats people less than animals ? Nurses can always get another job. The nightmare jobs I was fired from for speaking out were just a "bad dream" a few weeks later and I did tell my next job why I left in detail.Do not let them scare you into silence.

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I wish i was kidding...I am not...True story...I am still with the system but in a different dept and even though I just graduated from RN school I have not been offered a position....so for me being a patient advocate had a very high price....it ended my career with a place I dearly loved.....given another chance I would still do it but I would do it differently....no signed letters...no committees ...no talks with staff lawyers...I would get the other MDs on my side first and let them handle it....

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I would give yall the details but legally it would be unwise...I do believe in standing up for the patients rights but you better be prepared to resign when you do it....a MD friend of mine told me our mistake was the way we did it....they could have fixed it without all the bloodshed....we made ourselves look bad by trying to overpower the medical staff....bad move politcally....live and learn...like dont post after the 3rd beer :)

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I would give yall the details but legally it would be unwise...I do believe in standing up for the patients rights but you better be prepared to resign when you do it....a MD friend of mine told me our mistake was the way we did it....they could have fixed it without all the bloodshed....we made ourselves look bad by trying to overpower the medical staff....bad move politcally....live and learn...like dont post after the 3rd beer :)

i totally agree that often advocating for a patient(s) can lose you your job; big price to pay. and yes, i would do the same thing again, just am unsure as to how i would approach it differently.

but i will never let a bad experience stop me from advocating for my patients.

i pick my battles carefully; i understand the politics and all the other bs but what's the use of nsg if you don't advocate for your patients? then in my mind, you're not a real nurse.

leslie

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We have to choose our battles in nursing...and advocating for our patients is only one area (of many) where we can tread on toes and make enemies. so...we advocate carefully...like everything else we do. ;)

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If the Dept Chair is your friend....life is good.:chuckle

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If the Dept Chair is your friend....life is good.:chuckle
This is like that old "Tonight Show" spoof.... you answered my questions before I could ask them.

How can you "dearly love" a place that treats you and your patients so poorly? And if you are an RN now but have not gotten an RN position, what's the point of staying?

I appreciate your earlier reference to the "bloodshed" that could have been avoided. Maybe it isn't advocacy that is frowned upon, but upheaval that interferes with care? In which case, if this is so, the problems you wrote about might not be about unsupported advocacy but about risk to team work, mutual respect and making patient care primary. Sometimes there's more to the story, and not just on Paul Harvey.....

Could this be so?

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This is like that old "Tonight Show" spoof.... you answered my questions before I could ask them.

How can you "dearly love" a place that treats you and your patients so poorly? And if you are an RN now but have not gotten an RN position, what's the point of staying?

I appreciate your earlier reference to the "bloodshed" that could have been avoided. Maybe it isn't advocacy that is frowned upon, but upheaval that interferes with care? In which case, if this is so, the problems you wrote about might not be about unsupported advocacy but about risk to team work, mutual respect and making patient care primary. Sometimes there's more to the story, and not just on Paul Harvey.....

Could this be so?

Fair enuff

1st loved is past tense.

2nd Not everyone is crazy like the aforementioned MD. Some of the greatest humans on the face of this planet walk the halls of my hospital.

3rd the board revoked his privileges for a reason. I just will not give the details for everyones amusement. Its not wise legally but

privileges revoked = we were right.

4th I am taking a sabbatical until the ICU training programs begin in Jun.

there are regularly scheduled ICU programs for new RNs that begin in Jan and Jun here in Texas. I feel it would be unethical for me to take a position for a few months and then leave for ICU training. ICU nursing was why I made the sacrifices I did for the last 3 years. There is nothing else I want to do at this time.

5th I have a really good job paying 17.75 per hour now just sitting on my butt watching the 20-40 cardiac monitors..I can wait and continue to study now that I have the whole picture...its easier to understand multisystem organ failure when you have studied all the organs....

6th... is there a 6th point...nope that about covers it....just kickin back..playing my guitar...riding my bike....reading at a leisurely pace...gettin ready for nclex and the rest of my wonderful life...:)

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