How Registered Nurses Practice Patient Advocacy? A Qualitative Study on the Perceptions, Activities and Influencing...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Healthcare Policy
• Patient Advocacy

Background:

• Patient advocacy is a critical nursing role for ensuring patient safety, rights, and comfort.
• Understanding the nuances of patient advocacy within specific cultural contexts, such as Korea, is essential for effective healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the perceptions, activities, and influencing factors of patient advocacy among registered nurses in Korea.
• To identify how nurses in Korea experience and enact patient advocacy in their daily practice.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study employing a social constructionist paradigm.
• Focus group interviews were conducted with 19 experienced Korean registered nurses.
• Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Main Results:

• Nurses perceive advocacy as an "invisible yet pervasive safeguard" for patients.
• Advocacy activities involve contextual strategies like interventions, empowerment, and coordination.
• Organizational, interprofessional, and individual factors significantly shape advocacy practices.

Conclusions:

• Registered nurses play a crucial but often underappreciated role in patient advocacy.
• Advocacy practices are adaptive and context-dependent, influenced by multiple factors.
• Increased recognition and institutional support are needed to enhance patient advocacy in nursing.