Nurses have been said to be an advocate for patients (Mallik 1997), but an 'advocate' model of care has been undermined recently on a number of grounds (Willard 2008) and one of these is because it can be seen as being confrontational to other members of the team (Bernal 1992). 

Interestingly, my feedback this year from placement has noted that I'm 'feisty', 'ready for a debate' and have a 'bring it on' attitude, and I wonder if this stems at least in part around my perhaps rather simplistic acceptance of patient advocacy? Two issues arise for me then relating to this consideration: how do I promote my role with and for patients without creating friction between those I work with? And - do I engage in role 'stereotyping' and is this useful in my work as a nurse? Are these two issues related in anyway?

If I consider the position of the doctor, he was tired and not very experienced; asking him to speak to a distressed patient about sensitive issues must have been hard.