AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the extent to which the findings from an integrative review regarding perioperative patient advocacy could be empirically supported, and to describe Swedish registered nurse anaesthetists' patient advocacy actions and interactions during the perioperative period.BACKGROUND: Patient advocacy is practiced by various health care professionals in promoting the well-being of patients. It is complex, and in a general health care context it has been described as supporting the patients both physiologically and psychologically. During general anaesthesia, the patient enters an unconscious state, and the registered nurse anaesthetist safeguards patient privacy and autonomy.DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive.METHODS: Individual, nonparticipant observations (n=16) with eight registered nurse anaesthetists. The observer followed the nurses unobtrusively by shadowing them during the perioperative phase on two separate occasions. The analysis was conducted with a directed content analysis in the light of four predetermined categories, identified in a previous integrative review of patient advocacy in the perioperative setting: protecting, value preserving, supporting, and informing.RESULTS: The predetermined categories were empirically supported. They were further refined by identifying 11 new subcategories leading to a conceptual extension of the theoretical frame. The registered nurse anaesthetists interacted with the patient and all members of the surgical team when practicing perioperative patient advocacy and the actions were mostly initiated by the registered nurse anaesthetists themselves.CONCLUSIONS: The findings offer a new insight into the registered nurse anaesthetist's professional role. The observations deepen the understanding of the registered nurse anaesthetists' perioperative patient advocacy actions, and can contribute to a more reflective and theory-oriented view of practice.RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The results from this study could be used to help registered nurse anaesthetists and their students understand practice in a more complete and insightful way.
