How nurses learn advocacy.
OBJECTIVE
To describe how nurses develop the skill of advocating for patients.


METHODS
Hermeneutic phenomenological research methods. Both reserve and active U.S. Army nurses who cared for patients associated with the military operation in Bosnia were individually interviewed to gain an understanding of their experiences of advocating for patients and how they developed their advocating practices.


RESULTS
The constitutive pattern identified was Developing Advocating Practices. The themes comprising this constitutive pattern were Who I Am, Watching Other Nurses Interact with Patients, and Gaining Confidence.


CONCLUSIONS
For the nurses in this study, developing advocating practices was more haphazard and situationally dependent than methodically taught in their nursing education programs. Nurses would have a stronger foundation in advocacy in nurse educators consciously teach advocacy and if nurse administrators support new graduates' advocacy in the work environment.
Foley
Barbara Jo
BJ
University of North Carolina School of Nursing, Carrington Hall, CB #7460, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. bfoley@email.unc.edu
Minick
M Ptlene
MP
Kee
Carolyn C
CC
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009726:Nurses; D010344:Patient Advocacy