Pediatric Patient Advocacy Paper

Nurses are primary caregivers and provide quality care to the patients and their families. They put the patient’s needs, desires, and safety first, working to protect their rights. That is known as patient advocates; a person who argues for or supports a cause or policy. Many nurses spend more than a twelve-hour shift with their patients, and understand what they want and need in order to be comfortable and recover. For that reason, nurses would not allow harm to come to them (Huber, 2015). My first experience with patient advocacy began with a pediatric patient. J.C. is a ten-year-old boy with cerebral palsy that was intubated to due harsh movements that caused him to have rhabdomyolysis. My preceptor has spent many days with him already
and knew what to do to make him and his family comfortable during this difficult time. On my second day, I witnessed her being J.C.’s advocate by making sure that everything possible was done to help him. She explained to me that as nurses, we are the patients voice especially if they are not able to speak and we must do everything to protect them. On that day, J.C. was scheduled for an MRI. Three MRI nurses and two nurse anesthetists arrived to prepare J.C. for the procedure. While the three MRI nurses were trying to figure out how to put all of J.C.’s medications on their pump, the other two nurses walked into his room and started assessing him. My preceptor was shocked to see that they walked by her without asking for the nurse and started doing things without permission. She walked in and introduced herself as the nurse taking care of J.C. and the two nurses immediately stopped and asked her questions. J.C. is a complicated case, and my preceptor felt the need to intervene to protect him from unnecessary harm that those two nurses were unaware of. On arrival to MRI, J.C. was transferred from his bed to a MRI safe bed. Once transferred, one of the technicians put the foley bag on top of the bed and urine started to back flow. I became worried because I was always taught in nursing school that the foley bag must always be below the bed. My preceptor caught it and lowered the foley, only to have the technician reposition it back to the top of the bed. She advised the technician that the foley should never be above the bed because urine can back flow into the patient and cause a urinary tract infection, and lowered the foley bag again. She taught me that nurses are responsible for what happens to the patient, and if anything goes wrong, the one at fault is the primary nurse. That’s why the nurse cannot allow anyone that doesn’t know the case do anything, without his or her presents. After the MRI, J.C. was brought back into the unit and made comfortable. My preceptor had a thought to run a blood test to see if that was the cause of his movements, since treatment has not been made. When the doctor made his rounds, she suggested it to him and he wrote the order. I was amazed to see how much knowledge my preceptor had and how the doctor was on the same page with the treatment plan. I learned that if the nurse has a feeling of something or thinks something can help the patient, it does not hurt to ask. She mentioned that it is always better to try something than not do anything at all. At the end of the day, I learned that nurses are patient advocates and must do what they can to help their patients. I was amazed and shocked to see what actually happens in the hospital and hoped that I would be one the best patient advocates. This incident was important to me because it was a child’s life and I would not want anything bad to happen to someone, especially if it was preventable.