Health Advocacy or Professional Advocacy
- Demonstrates strong advocacy skills in the healthcare setting and in the professional world.
- Demonstrates strong support of patients’ rights through activities such as seeking ethical advice or ensuring that the patient is always first and central in clinical decision-making.
- Active in initiatives that enhance the public profile of the NP.
Descriptors:
- Healthcare setting
- Identifies a specific patient or patient population that requires ongoing support and advocacy.(e.g. Geriatric population)
- Always ensures the patients receive the best possible care and that the wishes of the patient are represented
- Delivers exemplary care to patient population at all times to provide leadership to other care providers.
- Involves family and significant others in patient care and decision making
- Involved in the planning and development of care that integrates the needs of specific patient populations (e.g. integrates a fall prevention program in the care of the elderly)
- May initiate or be involved in policy making in the health care agency, community or province that protects and supports specific patient population (e.g. patients with dementia, patients with disabilities)
- Intervenes and is proactive when patients’ rights are at risk
- Educates others about the special needs of specific patient groups.
- Professional Non-Clinical Setting:
- Successfully initiates NP practice for a specific patient population or in a specific area of practice (e.g. initiates first geriatric practice in a community, initiates women’s health in an underserved area)
- Actively promotes the NP role through involvement in the health care agency, health authority, Ministry of Health through committee representation, policy development, education.
- Acts as a resource to other health care providers and recent NP graduates, assists with solving problems associated with NP practice, and provides information either formally or informally to others to support the NP role.
- Assumes a leadership role in professional associations (BCNPA), government (Ministry of Health) or in the regulatory body (CRNBC)