Nursing Is there a limit to one's professional obligation to the patient? Is that the same as advocacy?

Advocacy can be construed as a professional obligation to the patient, especially when advocacy is framed as an ethical obligation. There are therefore few limits to a nurse's ethical responsibilities to the patients, even though some situations may seem morally ambiguous. Many nursing researchers promote the concept of patient advocacy as "an ethic of practice," one that is an immutable part of the professional responsibilities of the nurse. (Gaylord & Grace, 1995, p. 11).

Are the characteristics of caring relevant to 2010?

The characteristics of caring are more relevant in 2011 than they were in 2010 or have ever been before, in part because of increasing patient diversity. Knowledge of the different concepts of health, healing, illness, and the role of the doctor helps make nurses more accountable to patient needs. Viewing the patient as a whole person is crucial. Moreover, the widening schism between persons in power and the powerless makes caring essential to any nursing practice..

3. Carper states that "caring, as a professional and personal value,...

Caring may be only one aspect of the nursing profession, but it is most certainly a realistic and relevant normative standard in the profession.
4. How are caring and advocacy similar and dissimilar?

Advocacy is an expression of caring. It is not possible for nurses to act on behalf of patients as an advocate without coming from a position of caring for that patient's rights. However, a nurse who operates within the normative framework of caring may stop short of his or her professional obligations and withhold advocacy -- whether for fear of reprisal or for lack of self-empowerment in the workplace.

5. Is the discussion on advocacy relevant to 2010?

As Hanks (2008) puts it, advocacy is "an essential component of nursing practice" (p. 468). Advocacy is relevant to 2010 as well as 2011 because the practice entails "speaking out and speaking for patients; being compelled to act on…