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EDITOR'S
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What do you think? PREVIOUS In
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Historically, the nursing profession has enjoyed a high level of public confidence and trust. While nurses have struggled to secure a legitimate presence and voice in our healthcare delivery system, the public has always known who was on the front lines delivering care. They also recognize how central nurses are to the care they receive. But when we examine the healthcare issues splashed across the media today – patient safety, medication errors, medical device reuse, union strike threats, and the many disturbing workplace anecdotes – nursing may be losing some of its public trust and confidence. As consolation, nursing still seems to be ahead of other professions in the battle for public trust, but I fear it is losing ground. I hear it wherever I go and the data seems to support it. One reason for this loss of faith may be that our personal agenda – or simply our apathy – seems to have gotten in the way of patient advocacy. We’ve missed opportunities to insist that the patient’s needs come first. We’ve all seen patients sent home too early, for example. Patients don’t care about average bed days per thousand, only that they have the care they need – when they need it. We also are quick to complain about the lot of nursing, but slow to own and demonstrate the accountability that ensures excellence at the bedside. We remain silent when co-workers fail to live up to our expectations of excellence. This brings to mind the weak link theory: We are only as strong as our weakest link. If you take these concerns of quality to heart, the nursing practice is in question in many of the well-publicized stories that have grabbed the public’s attention. We all know it is the nurse who most influences a patient’s perception of quality and service as care is delivered. We also know that patients often are far more comfortable discussing their healthcare concerns with their nurse rather than their physician. We’ve all stood at the bedside after the physician has left the room, answering questions and providing support and counsel to our patients and their families. It’s time for nurses to take control of our public image. We should be proud of who we are and what we contribute. But most importantly, we should do whatever is necessary to ensure that our patients receive the best nursing care available. We should give them not only an image of nursing, but also an experience of which we can all be proud. I believe nursing will realize its real potential when we put patients before ourselves, and we demonstrate our highest role: patient advocate. Carol Bradley,
MSN, RN |
