Nurses' Role in Empowering Patients to Make Informed Decisions

This essay explores the critical role of nurses in empowering patients to make informed decisions regarding their healthcare, particularly within the context of NHS England. It emphasizes the importance of patient involvement in treatment decisions, highlighting how nurses facilitate this through effective communication, ethical practices, and adherence to the NMC Code. The essay details how nurses provide information about treatment options, involve patients in shared decision-making, and address the unique needs of mentally ill patients. It also discusses the significance of patient empowerment in fostering a patient-centered approach, ensuring that patients actively participate in their care and well-being. The essay concludes by reinforcing the pivotal role nurses play in supporting patients through their healthcare journey and promoting better outcomes.

Essay

Table of Contents
Topic: Nurses can empower patients to make informed decisions..................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5

Topic: Nurses can empower patients to make informed decisions
INTRODUCTION
A Nurse is a person who provide service and quality care to their patients in order to heal
faster. They play a crucial role for the health and care of a patient who are going through mental
illness as without proper care no patient can feel healthy again (Castro and et. al., 2016). Nurse
empower patient by involving them in decision making of their treatment to gain better
outcomes. In the context of this report, NHS England has been chosen to understand the
behaviour conducted by a nurse in order to meet with the demands of mentally ill patients
(Wachinger and et. al., 2013). The present assignment will focus on empowering of patient by
nursing staff in order to make informed decisions.
MAIN BODY
Empowering patients refers to provide them an authority to remain involve in decision
making of their process to become well being. It consist the criterion for nursing staff to provide
proper information about alternative methods that can be applied in specific case of an individual
and take their suggestions to implement the suitable one according their choice. However, it is
helpful to make patient more comfortable and easily conduct clinical practices with their
cooperation or achieving better outcomes. Moreover, it is right of an patient get engage in
decision making of treatment and nurse should follow this concept because informed consent is
an ethical principle that must be considered while providing medical facilities to an individual. It
is necessary or nursing staff to follow ethical norms including informed consent and empowering
patients in order to increase their comfort level to gain more suitable medications for their
welfare. In NHS England, Nurses are considered as integral part of association as without them
no patient can get effective health and support. They work and support the organisation like no
one else. It is very vital to understand the role performed by them in order to ensure that patients
suffering from mental health, themselves understand what they are going from and how to cure
it. In this way, they will know what things they want to avoid and what should be implemented
in order to cure (Dwarswaard and et. al., 2016). It is a commitment made by NHS to the people
of United Kingdom, government and patients to try to establish a set up which will make
mentally ill patients more involved in the process. Many a times, it is noted, that family is more
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involved in the process rather than the patient, but, through the implementation of this process it
will be patients who will be more involved with the nurses and doctors.
Informed decision making in nursing and healthcare refers to shared medical decision
making seeks to engage patients and providers in a collaborative process to choose clinical
options which reflect patient preferences. Whereas shared decision making is a key component
of patient centred health care. It indicates to the process in which clinicians and patients work
together to make decisions and select tests, treatments and care plans based on clinical evidence
that balances risks and expected outcomes according to patient preferences and values.
Nurses play a very important role for the establishment of a system to empower patient in
terms of making informed decision or treatment that facilitate to gain desired outcomes. It is not
possible in mental health conditions then suggestions can be taken from family members of
specific patient. However, care practitioners can not only provide health care but also takes care
of patient's social care so that they can rejoice the normal life again. Many a times, it is noted
person suffers from anxiety and depression after going from long term illness or encounter
disability or any mental illness (Grove, Burns and Gray, 2012). So, it becomes necessary to have
a cordial relationship between patients and nurses. For this purpose, nurses are required to adopt
effective communication strategies for influencing patients to give cooperation for their well-
being. Nurses make their involvement in decision making process by sharing their knowledge
and making communication with the patients so that they can understand their ideas and thoughts
and providing their support to them.
Communication refers to exchange of information between two or more than two people.
It sets as a guiding light for any organisation as without proper channel of communication no
organisation can survive especially in medical field (Parahoo, 2014). It needs proper
communication between patients, nurses and doctors for making appropriate decision for
wellness of an individual. Communication is an important aspect for nursing staff to provide
information about alternative techniques of treatment and select more favourable option as per
choice of patient for making them well being soon. In mentally ill patients, communication is
used to establish a way of treatment as it is necessary that mentally ill patients interact regularly
and try to be in company of other people (Hockenberry and Wilson, 2018). So to do that, NHS as
well as Nurses should try to implement various mode of communication channel through their
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actions in order to show that doctors and nurses care for the patient and they want that they
effectively and heal as early as possible.
In healthcare sector, the patients required different kins of information related to various
activities and operations of this sector like medical, treatment plans, diagnoses, problems,
laboratory and test results etc.
Nurses can empower patients to make informed decisions:
The concept of patient empowerment and engagement of individuals is considered to be
focussed while making decision regarding their treatment. It consist the criterion of establishing
an effective relation among patient and nurse relationship which is helpful to make them aware
about effectiveness of several treatment procedures to apply suitable one for their welfare. In
context of NHS, it has a policy to focus on patient empowerments in respect of making informed
consent as it is supportive to make people feel comfortable and establish appropriate decision
regarding treatment. They work according to Health and Social Care Act, 2012. Through the
implementation of new system in NHS England, which enables patients to make an informed
decisions about their health and treatment undertaken (Landers and et. al., 2012). It is very
crucial for patients to get involved in the process as through this they will be aware of what is
happening to them and what is the procedure to cure it.
In association of NHS, nurses plays a major role in empowering patients to make an
informed decision about their health and care. The involvement of patients in being an active
member in managing their own health and support NHS to do the same. It has been noted that
many a times, patients do not possesses the right knowledge to make an informed decision, so,
that is why come the need of nurses to empower patients to make a sound decision (Rise and et.
al., 2013). Here, the role performed by nurses of NHS is to tailor the requisites of patients in such
a way that it provides optimum satisfaction to the patients and help them heal faster. Decision
making is situational and have an impact on the particular circumstances that may change course
of decisions (Landers and et. al., 2012). The team involving patient, nurse and doctor needs to
work simultaneously to get the desired results. Here, the doctors and nurses share information
about the medical condition to patient and family to empower them with the information needed
to make a sound decision for the mental stability of patients.
Patient empowerment and their involvement are considered as main focus for NHS
policy, that emphasis more on patient decision making (McCormack and McCance, 2016). It
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represents the core features of a patient-centred NHS where sick people empower to give
cooperation in rebalancing of power within the nurse-patient relationship. As it is complicated to
implement this policy effectively due to wider issues related with healthcare leadership, power
and control within a complex health service that is influenced by professional agendas,
government targets and a developing business culture (McLennon and et. al., 2013). In spite of
these organisational constraints, nurses adopts various ways for supporting the patients and
brings empowerment in them to give positive response towards their treatment. Nursing
professionals during clinical practices face a number of situations and challenges related to get
right involvement of patients for their well-beings (Miller, W. R. and Rollnick, S., 2012). As
growing autonomy, patients' involvement and flow of information are considered as heart of
patient-centred health policy. Therefore, it is ethical for nurses to provide patients with all the
information of what they are going through, what is disease, how serious it is, what is the
treatment required and what are the repercussions of disease, whether it is long term or short
term, is it curable or not. These factors plays a vital role in setting up the mind of patient or if the
information is not provided to the patient in a right way, patient may loose their right state of
mind and go into depression (McCormack and McCance, 2016). The NMC Code plays a vital
role in the establishment of system which will empower patients to make an informed decisions
about their health as one of the most important element of NMC is to prioritise people. It says
patients should always be prioritise no matter what and it is their right to know about their own
conditions. This method will give them more insight of their own conditions and health and
make an informed decision as it is very important for mentally ill patients (McLennon and et. al.,
2013).
For this assistance, in order to provide timely information to patients, nurses of NHS
adopts an effective communication system both in verbal and non-verbal manner (Streiner,
Norman and Cairney, 2015). It has been evaluated that a good communication helps in
empowering the patients and other associated persons to make appropriate decisions for
providing treatment. Hereby, verbal communication refers to exchange of information orally or
written (Muraro and et. al., 2014). Nurses share the information in oral or written form via
prescriptions are a part of this sort of communication. It is very necessary for nurses to showcase
non verbal communication as it plays a major role for the patient to understand that nurse care
(Panicker, 2013).
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Empowerment refers to journey which will lead the sick people to develop self-efficacy,
that is defined as ones belief to enhance own ability and change behaviour, to get appropriate and
timely treatment. In NHS and other healthcare institutions, a patient-centred approach helps
nurses to empower the patients to give cooperation to service providers in making effective
decisions for treatment (Rise and et. al., 2013). The role of NMC Code here is to ensure that they
prioritise patients over everybody else. Nurses main duty is to give the utmost importance to the
customers and their decision plays a vital role in the establishment of empowering patients with
the information so that they can make a decision regarding their mental health and care.
Involvement of patients in treatment procedure as active participants represents an appropriate
shift in power distribution from nurses to service users (Staniszewska and et. al., 2012). If
patients act as active participants with nurses and other health care practitioners in their
empowerment then it will lead to provide effective medical treatment for their well-being.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be concluded that nurses plays a major role for the health
and care of patients. They not only provide support to patients but also try to implement better
practices through that patients heal faster. The NMC Code played a major role in the
establishment of behaviour showcased by nurses in organisation by implementing various
practices through which patients will be relieved from all the mental illness they are going
through. It also suggests that patients themselves should participate in their healing process so
that they are aware of what they are going for and heal faster.
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