Patient advocacy is an inherent component of professional nursing ethics; in other words, nurses' enough knowledge would be essential to gain a positive attitude towards nursing advocacy. Using a descriptive-analytic design, this study aimed to assess the correlation between nurses' perception and attitudes towards patient advocacy, amongst 385 nurses in Kerman, Iran; hence, a three-part questionnaire was applied: part I, a demographic data sheet, part II, attitude measuring instrument, and part III, perception measuring instrument in nursing advocacy. The results implied that fairly positive attitudes and perception were found amongst the participants, and nurses’ attitudes, in general, were positively correlated to their perception toward nursing advocacy. This means that with an improvement in perception, the attitude would also improve. In addition to our findings, it seems that these nurses needed more advocacy educational programs and support from responsible employers. 1. Introduction Patient advocacy is an intrinsic essence of professional nursing ethics. This ethical principle is vital to the nurse-patient relationship and reveals a thought of reverence towards patients as human beings [1] and towards patients’ rights [2, 3]. Indeed, patients’ needs or desires are recognized as a key impulsion for advocacy in nursing [4]. Therefore, it is defined as a crucial section of nurses’ attempts to encourage and protect health and interests of patients by supplying information and assisting clients in their decisions [5], cooperating to patients’ self-determination, autonomy, or empowerment [6], pleading the reason of client [7], defending the client from pointless worries [8], revealing information about misbehavior that imperils the welfare of others [9], and respecting patients values and beliefs, together with educating and interceding [6]. Curtin and Gadow stated that advocacy is the elemental foundation for nursing and exclusively illustrates the essence of nursing practice [10, 11]. Gadow alluded to advocacy as the “philosophical basis and aim of nursing.” Maybe the clearest definition of advocacy in nursing can be found in Gadow’s explanation. Advocacy not only safeguards but positively contributes to the exercise of self-determination [11, page 53]. Kohnke recommended that advocacy is a type of caring and kindness in nursing practice and that it is a learned skill that nurses would develop through different experiences, especially if advocacy is esteemed as worthwhile [5]. A great deal of the argument of patient advocacy is originated from the
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