Patient advocacy is an important aspect in the provision of quality patient-centered health care. It entails safeguarding the rightsof the patient and empowering the patient with medical information to aid in decision-making. Doctors, nurses, and the entire health care team are tasked with the responsibility of acting as patient advocates. Over the years, many challenges and obstacles have been encountered in advocating for patient rights. The major challenges are either organizational or between the health workers themselves.All this has been attributed to low educational standards in this particular field, and this essay unearths these major barriers.

Health care organizations are a major stumbling block in patient advocacy. They have failed to support patient caregivers in terms of finance and provision of necessary resources required in improving advocacy protocols. This causes a clash of interest in between adhering to organizational policies and advocating for patients rights. Organizations advocate for laboratory tests and medical imaging in diagnosis as opposed to physical examination and history taking. This is geared to benefit the organization financially at the expense of the patient. In this case scenario, the medical practitioner is torn between advocating for patient right or the organizations system. This creates a conflict of interest which affects the quality of care and self motivation of the caregiver.

Low levels of education in patient advocacy are a major hindrance in health care systems. Patient advocacy is not offered as a discipline or unit in colleges training medical personnel. This results in high illiteracy levels on how to properly advocate for the rights of patients. Organizations have also not taken the iniative to train their staff on patient advocacy as an important aspect of health care delivery. Different caregivers have different ideas on how to best practice patient advocacy. This has led to division in the health care team further undermining health care delivery.

Internal conflicts of interest are bound to arise from these challenges. A caregiver is often found in a predicament between adhering to patient ethics or organizational rules. This affects both the caregiver and the patient since quality of care is compromised. As a result, the organization goals and objectives are hindered. Organizations are forced to choose between profit-making and employee satisfaction. Any choice the organization makes is bound to affect the other negatively. This derails decision-making and threatens the organization’s stability.

Increased awareness of patient advocacy is vital in implementing its practices. The medical curriculum ought to include patient advocacy as a unit or discipline of its own. This will provide more insight into the topic and encourage more research in the field. Healthcare professionals should also attend various educational forums on the implementation strategies of patient advocacy.

A therapeutic relationship between healthcare organizations and healthcare staff ought to exist. This will foster good collaboration between the two parties in formulation of organization policies. The organization should point out the patient as the client and all practices should be geared towards the patients’ interests and patient satisfaction.

Patient advocacy requires various healthcare stakeholders to team up and ensure its implemented fully so as to eradicate these challenges. Healthcare organizations and medical personnel should all adhere to medical ethics and maintain patientintegrity. In provision of these measures, caregivers will significantly improve the delivery of health care leading to patient satisfaction in healthcare organizations.

References

Bu, X., & Jezewski, M. A. (2007) Developing a mid-range theory of patient advocacy through        concept analysis. Journal of advanced nursing, 57(1), 101-110

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Earp, J. L. French, E.,& Gilkey, M. B.  (2008).Patient advocacy for health care quality:                           strategies for achieving patient-centered care. Sudbury, MA 01776:Jones & Bartlett              Publishers

Gilkey, M. B., & Earp, J. A. L. (2009) Defining Patient Advocacy in the Post-Quality Chasm Era.

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Shi, L., & Singh, D. (2009). Essentials of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury. MA 01776:                        Jones & Bartlett Publishers