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Advocacy for clients is viewed as an essential function of nursing; however, to be effective advocates for patients, the nurse must often overcome barriers to being an effective advocate. This concept analysis of barriers to nursing advocacy uses the Walker and Avant method of concept analysis. By analyzing the barriers to effective nursing advocacy for clients, nursing can then find strategies to manage those barriers and maximize the nurse's advocacy efforts.
Search terms: Barriers, concept analysis, nursing, patient advocacy
Introduction and Concept Selection
Advocacy for clients is an important aspect in current professional nursing care and is considered to be a fundamental value of professional nursing by several nursing scholars. Since the origin of the client advocate in the 1970s (Annas & Healey, 1974), nursing has been viewed as the ideal profession to take on this advocate role (Annas, 1974) due to the intimate relationship of the client and nurse. The main act of advocating is viewed as part of nursing ethics by supporting patient autonomy (Gadow, 1989). Advocacy is found in all ethical codes for nursing (Hamric, 2000), including the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses (2001).
Nursing has not always practiced advocacy; rather, it is a relatively new role for nursing, emerging in the United States in the 1980s (Hamric, 2000). Barriers exist that prevent nurses from advocating for their clients, which will be examined in this article. For nurses to be effective advocates, an examination of the barriers that prevent nurses from fully realizing their role as nursing advocates must be performed in order to overcome these barriers.
Aim of Analysis
The aim of this analysis is to analyze critically the concept of barriers to nursing advocacy in order to provide clarity and direction for future inquiries into this subject. In addition, examining the barriers to nursing advocacy may result in more effective nursing education and interventions regarding nursing advocacy and the possibility of overcoming the barriers to provide effective nursing advocacy.
Methodology
The methodology used in this concept analysis is the Walker and Avant (2005) concept analysis method (Table 1), which is derived from Wilson's (1963) classic concept analysis procedure (Table 2). The Walker and Avant method was selected because it was determined to be more suitable...