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Patient advocacy: a concept analysis
1Chester College of Higher Education, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral. m.baldwin@chester.ac.uk
Aim:
To clarify the ill-defined concept of patient advocacy and develop a model.
Method:
An eclectic concept analysis was used in the study.
Results:
Results of the analysis reveal that advocacy has three essential attributes: valuing, apprising and interceding. Antecedents to advocacy include a vulnerable population and a nurse willing to take on the responsibility for advocacy. The consequences of acting as a patient advocate can be potentially negative or positive for patient and nurse. On their own, the attributes are one of a number of helping strategies.
Conclusion:
Advocacy is a contemporary nursing issue comprising three essential attributes. Individually, each of the attributes is a helping strategy used in nursing. Only when all three attributes are present can advocacy be said to be realised.