Complexities of Delegation by the Registered Nurse Rebecca Rynders College of Southern Maryland Complexities of Delegation by the Registered Nurse Among the professional skills that a registered nurse (RN) must possess; the skill of delegation is vital. Both the nursing shortage and the need for more cost effective care has resulted in the use of more unlicensed staff and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in the healthcare setting. This increase has led to the need for the RN to possess delegation skills. This necessity then leads to a requirement of definition and regulation of the delegation that occurs in order to keep it safe and effective. The guidelines are set forth by the American Nursing Association [ANA] (2006) and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing [NCSBN] (2006) in a Joint Statement on Delegation. The statement is one combined from papers adopted by the two organizations with recommendations on how delegation may be performed in an effective and safe manner. The paper also states the importance of referring to a state’s own Nurse Practice Act to establish legal parameters (ANA and NCSBN, 2006, Policy Considerations section). In order to fully understand the complex nature of delegation by the RN, this paper will explore the Joint Statement on Delegation (ANA and NCSBN, 2006), the Maryland State Nurse Practice Act, scholarly articles published on the subject of nursing delegation, and the text Contemporary Nursing: Issues in Trends and Management
The Kentucky Nursing Board oversees the delegation of the entire practice and its practitioners in accordance to the KRS Chapter 13A. Only competent nurses perform selected nursing situations under the supervision and persuasion of proper administrative policies promulgated in accordance to the board. This set of laws do affect the way that nurse practitioners carry out their clinical, administrative and teaching registered nursing practices. The laws integrate nursing skill, training
The Nurse Practice Act of Maryland defines “Delegation” as “The act of authorizing an unlicensed individual, a certified nursing assistant (CNA), licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a medication technician to perform acts of registered nursing or licensed practical nursing (Code of Maryland Regulations 10.27.11.02)”. As a registered nurse there are many instances that delegation to an unlicensed individual will be essential in order to provide optimal care to the patient and learning how to be successful in delegation is perhaps one of the hardest things to learn. To ensure that the delegation process is done as safely and smoothly as possible, there are five (5) rights of delegation that should be followed.
ABSTRACT: Delegation refers to the practice of a registered nurse assigning certain tasks and activities to other people while still maintaining responsibility for the actions of the others to whom responsibility has been delegated. The act of delegating assumes that the delegator has a certain amount of trust in the person to whom they delegate. Additionally, quality communication is paramount in maintaining superior patient care when delegating tasks to others. One signifigant obstacle to delegation is ensuring that the proper tasks are delegated to the appropriate individuals. The organizational structure and leadership
It is no secret that communication is key when providing direct patient care in a skilled nursing facility. However, there is a noticeable lapse in the communication between the care team when providing care to the individual or groups of individuals. Two main parts of any care team are the registered nurse and the certified nursing assistant, as these are the two people whom have the most direct and impactful roles with residents in a skilled facility. The Registered Nurse and the Certified Nursing Assistant play similar roles in providing patient care, but have different roles in its entirety. The role of the Registered Nurse (RN) is defined as having the competency and skill to provide direct and indirect health care to individuals, their families, and communities around them. Services are also provided designed to give out medications, to promote comfort or healing, promote healing, and to also provide the dignity of their patients and patient’s families (American College of Rheumatology, 2015).
The National Council of State Boards in Nursing defines delegation as “transferring to a competent individual the authority to perform a selected nursing task in a selected situation” (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Resources section, 4). When delegating, the registered nurse (RN) assigns nursing tasks to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) while still remaining accountable for the patient and the task that was assigned. Delegating is a management strategy that is used to provide more efficient care to patients. Authorizing other individuals to take on nursing responsibilities allows the nurse to complete other tasks that need tended to. However, delegation is done at the nurses’
Nurses play many roles in the healthcare field, can have many duties to fulfill under their licensure. It is important for a nurse of any degree, or licenses to know all of the duties that can be performed under their scope of practice. Olin (2012) states, “Scopes of practice are the same for every nurse at a basic level and very different by specialty.” Therefore, it is important to understand the scope of practice, that the nurse is licensed for. A nurse has many roles under the scope of practice that the nurse is licensed under. There are times when a nurse is asked to perform a task that isn’t under the nurse’s scope of practice and guidelines, and it is very important not to fulfill the task at hand if it
This paper explores the practice of the APRNs autonomy in the state of Georgia and compares it with other states. Also to advocate for policy recommendations of the APRNs scope of practice that are needed to improve the healthcare in the state of Georgia. APRNs are registered nurses that provide continuous care and treatment in many different areas, such as pediatrics, primary care, acute care, maternity, mental health and chronic disease management. APRNs also have advanced education, training, and national certification in specific areas of practice. Even with the changing and expanding of healthcare, APRNs continue to face challenges in practicing to the full extent of
Reyes, J. A. (2016). Nursing Delegation Guidelines for Nurses and Advanced Practice Nurses. Iowa Board Of Nursing Newsletter, 35(3), 1-4.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the transitional shift from practical nurse to professional nurse. We have utilized several resources detailing the scope of practice for the professional nurse, and explain in detail the new types of roles we will encounter as RN’s.
Since the inception of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role in the 1960s, NPs have thrived in the delivery of primary healthcare and nurse case management. Despite patient satisfaction with NPs ' style of care, nurses have been critical of NPs, while physicians have been threatened by NP encroachment on MD practice. Balancing assessment, diagnosis, and treatment with caring defines NPs ' success as primary care providers. Understand the role and Scope of Practice of NPs is sometimes difficult for some to understand. The purpose of this paper is to define the role and history of NP, compare and contrast licensure versus certifications, understand NP Scope Of Practice and Standards of Care, discuss how the State Practice Acts regulate FNP practice, discuss credentialing and privileging, and differentiate between legislative and regulatory processes.
In recent years, APRNs have been very vocal through many nursing coalitions and associations. The voices of all ARNPs seeking full practice authority has been heard with the proposed bills. The Florida Panhandle Nurse Practitioner Coalition (FRNPC), has given information to all ARNPs to keep ahead in legislative issues. A white paper published by the American College of Physicians have been shared to all Floridian ARNPs through the
(2010) said delegation by RNs is a primary mechanism for ensuring that professional nursing standards of care reach the
There is an increasing demand for nurse practitioners, which makes this a crucial period in the development of their practice and profession. Nurse practitioners must face increased opportunity and continuing opposition towards independent practice all while defining their role in health care delivery and establishing their connections. The practice of nurse practitioners still varies widely across the states. These inconsistencies make it difficult for nurse practitioners as well as patients when practice
Nursing administrators are registered nurses who are responsible for organizing and influencing the work of others. They are concerned about managing healthcare services in a defined environment, while carrying out the shared vision of the organization. These leaders promote accountability for nursing practice, clinical and workplace autonomy, a safe-healthy environment, and evidenced based practices (American Nurses Association, 2016). Nurse administrator needs to be capable of addressing challenges in a variety of fields including legal, regulatory, budgetary, ethical practices and information management (Roussel, Thomas, & Harris, 2016). The Scope and Standards of Practice of Nursing Administrators provides a framework to meet these challenges.
Delegation is fundamental in health care, especially in nursing. Catherine Knox wrote an article “Barriers to Effective Delegation” (2014). In this article, she states, “Nursing care is delivered in a wide variety of personnel that can range from registered nurse to unlicensed assistive personnel each profession has a different educational background and scope of practice” (Knox, 2014). The American Nurses Association (ANA) and National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) both define delegation “as the process for the nurse to direct another person to perform nursing task and activities” (2005). Knox believes many nurses “received little formal training in their education and employers rarely evaluate and develop nurses’ delegation skill as they do other clinical competencies” (Knox, 2014).