Nurse Strategies for Informed Decisions

Nurse Strategies For Informed Decisions Strategies for informed decision The identification of strategies to enable patient's to make good healthcare decisions is an important part of healthcare management and nursing praxis. In fact, providing the correct environment and information for the patient to make informed decisions and choices about their health is seen by many experts as an intrinsic and essential part of modern nursing management. In their book, Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application ( 2008) by Bessie L. Marquis, Carol J.

Huston, the authors state that a central part of nursing management is to give both subordinates and patients the necessary information to make informed decisions. Nurses should also provide correct and instructive data so that the patient is able to function autonomously. This also suggests that the rights and needs of the patient should supersede those of the health care providers (Marquis and Huston, 2008, p. 120) Identifying Strategies One of the central aspects of enabling patients to make informed healthcare decisions is adequate knowledge and information.

In other words, it is essential to make sure that the patient is aware of the opportunities and risks that are available in certain forms of treatment and how to make use of and respond to these options. Acting as an advocate in informing the patient and helping him or her to make decisions, the nurse must also take care to differentiate between controlling patient choices and assisting in these choices (Marquis and Huston, 2008, p. 120).

In other words the nurse, in developing a facilitative strategy, must be careful not to dominate and create a sense of dependence on the part of the patient. He or she must help the patient through the provision of information and making sure that the patient is cognizant of the options and choices, as well as all the related variables. The nurse also has the responsibility to ensure that the patient is capable of making certain vital decisions that may affect his or her health.

Another central aspect on the overall nursing strategy is the awareness of context. This means that the nurse must be aware of cultural and social factors that impinge on the patient's decision making process. The nurse must also take into account other variables, such as economic factors, that can impact on decision making. This can also include aspects such as taboos, perceptions of pain as well as concomitant factors such as education and socioeconomic status, language barriers, and advance health care planning. ( Mitty and Post, 2008).

Good examples that can be given are the strategies employed by the nurse in oncology in helping cancer patients to make informed decisions about their treatment. The nurse can assist these patients by providing access to informed decision making; which implies making sure that the patient understands both the nature as well as the risks of cancer treatment.

This can include explaining to the patient the risks and benefits of aspects such as alternatives to screening for cancer; and by helping the patient to make various decisions in relation to his or her values and preferences. For example, the nurse can clarify the difference between screenings for various types of cancer; for instance the fact that prostate cancer screening is different to screening for colorectal and lung cancer (Oncology nurses are key to ensuring that patients' decision making is truly informed).

This also emphasizes the context of the patient's life-world and the nurses understanding and knowledge of the patient's contextual situation (Oncology nurses are key to ensuring that patients'.