A Quantitative Study of Nurse's Attitude toward Patient Advocacy Activities - Essay Example

The paper highlights how blood-borne nosocomial infections, particularly Hepatitis C (HPC) were inadvertently transmitted to unsuspecting patients’ in some Nevada based Practices’ exclusively due to the unethical practice of reusing medical equipment meant for single use. The reporting of the incidence lead to an epidemiological investigation in the year 2008 by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), which brought the focus on two Las Vegas Clinics, where gross violations of the recommended protocols for single-use equipment had resulted in tragic consequences for most patients’.

The paper highlights how nursing practitioners at these facilities were compromised and unable to indulge in healthy procedures due to organizational hierarchical failures and pressures from the top. At the same time, the paper focuses on the issue as and when it has cropped up in the nursing profession worldwide and the implications on patient safety. The report reveals the bottlenecks and the obstacles which a nursing practitioner encounters when she tries to bring forth issues on patient safety. . to-patient transmission incidence in the State of Nevada, which was identified, reported and shortlisted to have occurred due to unethical practice in two particular healthcare facilities (Black, 2011).

As the study was investigative in nature, the author was compromised on time as well as resources. However, she has prepared a well designed survey-based study in which she administered a well structured questionnaire to a fair-sized sample of Registered Nurses’ (RN’s) within the state of Nevada who were likely to come up with appropriate and statistically analyzable data for the report. As a background for the study, the author has cited literature which pinpoints to similar problems elsewhere in the world, particularly Australia, where NPs were compromised enough not to report issues related to patient safety out of fear of misaligned retribution or losing their jobs.

The author, throughout her paper, has highlighted the constant fear which persistently gnaws at the back of the mind of every NP, who remains in a catch-22 situation at all points of their professional career. While they have legal as well as moral compulsions for patient safety, the ultimate purpose of their professional activity, at the same time they have to fall in line with the professional guidelines issued by their immediate and other superiors in the healthcare facility where they are employed.

The author shortlisted 1725 RN’s practicing within the state of Nevada, although the problem had surfaced exclusively due to malpractice at two endoscopy clinics in the southern part of the state. However, as the purpose was to inquire about the attitudinal state of NP’s, the author’s study design was appropriate as it intended to measure the general trend in NP attitude within the state. The