Holding the patient's life in my hands: S wedish registered nurse anaesthetists' perspective of advocacy

Background Anaesthesia often induces a state of unconsciousness that includes inability to communicate and influence the situation. The patient has to rely on the nurse anaesthetist to speak up for her/him as well as maintain her/his dignity and safety. Consequently, the nurse anaesthetist can be likened to the patient's advocate. Aim The aim of the study was to describe advocacy in anaesthesia care during the perioperative phase from the perspective of the registered nurse anaesthetist. Method Data for this qualitative descriptive study were collected during March and April, 2011. Individual interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 20 nurse anaesthetists from two hospitals in Sweden. The audio‐taped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. Findings The main theme, Holding the patient's life in my hands, described the nurse anaesthetists' perception of advocacy and comprised three subthemes: providing dignified care, providing safe care and a moral commitment. Conclusion Acting as the patient's advocate includes important health and well‐being issues and could be stressful for the nurse anaesthetists'. A work environment where the nurse anaesthetists' can make their voices heard and feel that their opinion regarding the patient's best interests is taken seriously would be desirable, as all health professionals should ideally focus on those in their care.