Public Health Nurse Perceptions of Empowerment and Advocacy in Child Health Surveillance in West Ireland

Abstract

The results suggest that PHNs need to be empowered in order to facilitate client empowerment. PHNs struggled with empowerment and client advocacy. There is a need for professional development for PHNs in order to support them to more critically engage with empowerment and self-efficacy in their work. This needs to be done within organizational structures that support PHNs to critically analyze the role of advocacy and empowerment in their practice.

Advocacia Do Paciente Na Enfermagem: Barreiras, Facilitadores E Possíveis Implicações

“…Hence, support from health institutions may give nurses greater autonomy to advocate for the rights of their patients and encourage them to seek qualification to make better decisions. 4,17,29 In regard to constraints, such as a lack of time and an excessive work load, nurses are indirectly advocating for their patients when they demand better working conditions.30 Therefore, when they demand that the health institution at which they work provide support so they can fulfill their ethical and professional responsibilities, they are taking actions that translate into patient advocacy. 27 Demanding better working conditions based on appropriate staffing levels, on the availability of material resources, and on the development of standards and routine protocols, can change and improve settings in which nurses work and contribute to patient advocacy, ensuring quality care and overcoming barriers that impede patient advocacy, such as work overload.…”

“…These barriers also prevent nurses from realizing they have a responsibility as defenders, which in turn hinders decision-making in their work. [16][17] The main barriers to patient advocacy in the field of nursing include: the medical staff, lack of time, work overload, difficulties communicating with patients or healthcare staff, lack of knowledge, powerlessness, fear of taking risks, fear of conflict, lack of autonomy, lack of power to make decisions, and lack of support on the part of the institution.…”

Defending the rights of children in a hospital setting: nurses' advocacy in health

“…Hence, nurses play a fundamental role in the care provided to children, establishing bonds with them, helping them make healthier choices and contributing to their growth and development. 11 Children are citizens in a particular condition of development, a condition that requires care to satisfy basic needs, as children do not have full understanding of their rights or conditions to defend themselves or make themselves heard. 15 Therefore, nurses play a key role advocating and seeking the rights of hospitalized children, ensuring they receive information that is appropriate to their age 16 regarding their health condition and rights, as well as the parents or legal guardians also receiving such information, to strengthen their autonomy and empower them to claim their rights.…”

How Can the Empowerment Role of Public Health Nurses (PHNs) Be Fostered? A Review of an Exploratory Research Study Conducted in Ireland and Current Evidence

“…The knowledge base of the PHN is still needed as a resource to be used in the context of the client centred partnership approach. Therefore, the focus in health promotion is not on building capacity with regard to power over another but rather is concerned with power to engage in action (Carey 2000). The relinquishment of expert power holds the potential for the PHN of a new form of power called intellectual liberation.…”

“…Empowerment has a strong political dimension and this requires self-reflection, dialogue, action and commitment to change (Carey 2000). It is defined in political, management and organisational development terms.…”