Advocacy Workshops for Nurses and Nursing Students
Speaker: Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH
Founder and Executive Director,
The Truth About Nursing
Have you become aware of errors or other problems that nurses could prevent through stronger advocacy? Are your nurses able to respond effectively to forces that might harm patients? Are your nursing students ready to embrace their role as patient advocates?
The social environment that shapes all of from birth us does not encourage nursing advocacy. Our culture and mass media have long presented nursing mainly as assistive work, doing what physicians tell us to do, rather than independently assessing, problem solving, and implementing actions to rescue the patient. Of course, nursing professors and mentors have worked valiantly to convey the true nature of the profession, but many nurses have still internalized the popular understanding of their profession. The dominant culture can be hard to resist.
In fact, nursing is an autonomous profession with its own unique knowledge base and scope of practice. Although nurses work side-by-side with physicians in clinical settings, they do not answer to physicians. Nurses generally report only to other nurses. Nurses adhere to the Code of Ethics for Nurses, which defines what nursing is, or at least what it aspires to be.
How can we empower nurses to protect patients better?
Sandy Summers, RN, MSN, MPH, of the Truth About Nursing has an answer. In her workshops, she breaks down the underlying reasons that many nurses struggle to advocate effectively. Sandy encourages nurses to examine how they tackle difficult situations in the clinical setting. She shares her own stories of passion and persistance, and offers strategies to help nurses advocate, negotiate, and explore solutions when patients' wellbeing may be on the line. She helps nurses see that they can be forces for positive change in the health care environment.
Book a workshop with us today! We can empower nurses to improve safety, reduce health care errors, strengthen the delivery of nursing care, and enhance public health. Sandy shows you how.
Contact Sandy by email ssummers@truthaboutnursing.org
Office phone 410-323-1100
Cell 443-253-3738