NURSING ADVOCACY - AN ETHIC OF PRACTICE

Advocacy is an important concept in nursing practice; it is frequently used to describe the nurse-client relationship. The term advocacy, ho wever, is subject to ambiguity of interpretation. Such ambiguity was e videnced recently in criticisms levelled at the nursing profession by hospital ethicist Ellen Bernal. She reproached nursing for using 'pati ent rights advocate' as a viable role for nurses. We maintain that, fo r nursing, patient advocacy may encompass, but is not limited to, pati ent rights advocacy. Patient advocacy is not merely the defence of inf ringements of patient rights. Advocacy for nursing stems from a philos ophy of nursing in which nursing practice is the support of an individ ual to promote his or her own well-being, as understood by that indivi dual. It is an ethic of practice.