Patient advocacy: Japanese psychiatric nurses recognizing necessity for intervention.

Background: Advocacy is an important role of psychiatric nurses because their patients are ethically, socially, and legally vulnerable. This study of Japanese expert psychiatric nurses' judgments of interventions for patient advocacy will show effective strategies for ethical nursing practice and their relationship with Japanese culture.

Objectives: This article explores Japanese psychiatric nurses' decision to intervene as a patient advocate and examine their ethical, cultural, and social implications.