School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Nurs Ethics. 2023 Sep;30(6):844-856. doi: 10.1177/09697330221146241. Epub 2023 Mar 31.
Speaking up to safeguard patients is a crucial ethical and moral obligation for nurses, but it is also a difficult and potentially dangerous component of nursing work. Health advocacy is gaining impetus in the medical literature, despite being hampered by barriers resulting in many nurses in Ghana remaining mute when faced with advocacy-required situations. We explored situations that thwart nurses from performing their health advocacy role.
What would cause nurses to take no action when they witness situations that require them to act as health advocates for their clients or communities?
An inductive, descriptive qualitative design was used to collect and analyse data on barriers that prevent nurses from practising their health advocacy role in Ghana. Individual one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
Twenty-four professional nurses and midwives registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council were recruited from three regional hospitals in Ghana. These public hospitals were chosen from the upper, middle and coastal regions.
The UKZN Ethics Review Committee in South Africa and the GHS Ethics Review Committee in Ghana both gave their approval for this study.
Intrapersonal barriers, interpersonal barriers, and structural barriers emerged as major obstacles that nurses experience when performing their health advocacy role.
Barriers to health advocacy have undermined nurses' ability to function as health advocates and are preventing them from utilising their health advocacy position in nursing practise. Giving nursing students positive role models in the classroom and in the clinic can help them become more effective health advocates.
对于护士来说，为保护患者挺身而出是一项至关重要的道德义务，但这也是护理工作中困难且潜在危险的一部分。尽管在医疗文献中健康倡导得到了推动，但由于存在障碍，导致加纳的许多护士在面临需要倡导的情况时保持沉默，因此健康倡导仍面临阻碍。我们探讨了哪些情况会导致护士在目睹需要他们为客户或社区充当健康倡导者的情况时不采取行动。
当护士目睹需要他们为客户或社区充当健康倡导者的情况而不采取行动时，是什么原因导致的？
采用归纳式、描述性定性设计，收集和分析数据，了解在加纳阻止护士发挥其健康倡导角色的障碍。使用半结构化访谈指南对 24 名注册护士和助产士进行了个人一对一深入访谈。使用定性内容分析对数据进行分析。
从加纳的三家地区医院招募了 24 名具有护理和助产理事会注册资格的专业护士和助产士。这些公立医院是从上、中、沿海地区选择的。
南非 UKZN 伦理审查委员会和加纳 GHS 伦理审查委员会都批准了这项研究。
个人障碍、人际障碍和结构障碍是护士在履行健康倡导角色时遇到的主要障碍。
健康倡导的障碍削弱了护士作为健康倡导者的能力，并阻止他们在护理实践中利用他们的健康倡导地位。在课堂和临床中为护理学生提供积极的榜样可以帮助他们成为更有效的健康倡导者。
