Patient advocacy by nurses - past, present and future.

Background: Patient advocacy is central to the nursing profession yet a sense of certainty about the concept, its meaning and its implications for nursing practice remains elusive.

Aim: This scholarly paper examines the concept of patient advocacy and its relevance to the nursing profession in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Design: A broad historical overview of the evolution of the role of advocacy in nursing practice is provided including factors that encourage or discourage nurses to practice patient advocacy.

Conclusions: This paper highlights the gap between the ideal of patient advocacy and the realities of everyday nursing practice. The responsibility for enacting advocacy sits with both individual practitioners and the organizations nurses work within.