In safeguarding the patient, the nurse supports and thereby advocates the patient's interests in teh restoration of the patient's health and well-being. This article explores the concept of advocacy, discusses some of its complex issues and highlights its implications for nursing practice with some reference to the theatre setting. An advocate is one who pleads the cause of another. According to Tschudin, advocacy is a fundamental aspect of an ethic of caring in that with courage born of compassion one is able to respond in a caring way to the needs and rights of another. An advocate must take positive steps to restore another person's autonomy when it is threatened or diminished, otherwise all talk of advocacy is simply lip-service. In theatre nursing the scope for acting as the patient's advocate is a reality because most surgery necessitates the use of general anaesthesia resulting in the patients' loss of consciousness and they are therefore unable to maintain their own interests. The anaesthetised patient who has entrusted his life into the hands of the theatre team relies on this duty of care to maintain his dignity and safety. As Bandman and Bandman purport, the nurse recognises that his or her first duty is to protect and care for the patient's health and safety.
在保护患者的过程中，护士提供支持，从而维护患者在恢复健康和幸福方面的利益。本文探讨了维护权益的概念，讨论了其中一些复杂问题，并结合手术室环境着重阐述了其对护理实践的影响。维护权益者是为他人的事业进行辩护的人。根据楚丁的观点，维护权益是关爱伦理的一个基本方面，因为出于同情而生的勇气能让人以关爱之心回应他人的需求和权利。当他人的自主权受到威胁或减损时，维护权益者必须采取积极措施恢复其自主权，否则所有关于维护权益的言论都只是口惠而实不至。在手术室护理中，充当患者维护权益者的机会是切实存在的，因为大多数手术都需要使用全身麻醉，这会导致患者失去意识，因此他们无法维护自身利益。将自己的生命托付给手术室团队的麻醉患者依赖这种护理职责来维护其尊严和安全。正如班德曼夫妇所主张的，护士认识到其首要职责是保护和照顾患者的健康与安全。
