Advocacy involves the process of persuading someone to at least consider one’s point of view. The role of the nurse practitioner as an advocate in healthcare is not a new one. Historically, from the time of Florence Nightingale, the nurse has been the person who has identified patient needs and sought ways to have these needs met (Maryland & Gonzalez, 2012). I currently work as a Psychiatric Forensic Charge Nurse. Working with patients that have mental illness causes you to advocate for their care at all times. Patients with mental illness are not always treated fairly and they are often taken advantage of. One of the patients that I was caring for recently had been not endorsing his bowel movement status for a whole week. He was refusing treatment
