Nurse Delegation Essay

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

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’

This article discusses about the process of nursing delegation. For the process of nursing delegation, it must have strong communication, empowered staff, and organizational support. The guidelines identify 5 rights of delegation, which include right task, right circumstances, right person, right direction & communication, and right supervision & evaluation. When a delegator, such as a nurse, delegates, they will remain responsible for the tasks that were delegated. Delegation of an action/task is done based on the patient’s safety and their quality of care. Following the process enables a nurse to appropriately delegate to benefit the care of the patient.

Delegation is a formal process through which a regulated health professional (delegator) who has the authority and competence to perform a procedure under one of the controlled acts delegates the performance of that procedure to another individual (delegatee) (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2014).

Nursing is hierarchical hence should engage in different types of leadership activities in their routine care delivery

In nursing, delegation helps in making use of the talent or skills of another person. One nurse transfers interventions which are under his/her practice roles to another to another member of the healthcare team who lacks such powers authorized under their scope of practice. Delegation can only take place if it is in patient’s best interest.

One mistake that new nurse leaders make is that they believe that the only way to get things accomplished, is to be direct and autocratic (Kerfoot, 2008.) The new leader’s fear of failing can influence them to take on the autocratic role to try and earn respect from their employees. However, this is not considered to be very effective among staff. When the professional nurse takes on the autocratic leadership trait and uses it on a daily basis, employees feel micromanaged. When a manager micromanages their employees they take the risk of lowering morale, and losing good workers (North, 2011.) Nurses have a lot of autonomy in their profession. They work independently and take responsibility for their actions. When they become micromanaged by their nurse leader, it takes away that autonomy and creates a work environment that is very low in morale, and can hurt the relationship between manager and employee. Often managers are experiencing a substantial amount of stress from the administration concerning budgets, deadlines, and high performance issues, but this does not justify micromanaging employees (North, 2011.) It is important to give your staff some independence; this lets them know you trust their judgment (North, 2011.) A nurse leader may also change their leadership style depending on if they are dealing with an inexperienced new graduate nurse, or an experienced veteran nurse.

effectiveness (Cioffi & Ferguson, 2009). Therefore, it is important to ensure that nurses who assume leader roles have the skills to manage and delegate tasks as required. There must be clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each team member that take into account the levels of expertise among the members. It can be troublesome when team members do not carry their share of the work. When this occurs, other team members take on an additional work burden to address the shortfalls in patient care. If the team leader is unable to provide clarity and direction for the team, the model will not be effective.

Florence Nightingale stated, “To be ‘in charge’ is certainly not only to carry out the proper measures yourself but to see that everyone else does too. It is neither to do everything yourself nor to appoint a number of people to each duty, but to ensure that each does that duty to which he is appointed” (Hill & Howlett, 2009, p. 285). Delegation is empowering another person to perform a task or responsibility that are in the job description of the charge nurse to a competent unregulated care provider (UCP) in selected situations (College of Nurses of Ontario [CNO], 2013). Essentially this is “transferring the authority to perform a controlled act procedure to a person not authorized to perform that act” (CNO, 2013, pg. 7). An example of delegation would be an RPN and a UCP working within a long-term care facility where the RPN determines the UCP is competent in administering a rectal suppository to a resident who’s condition is both stable and predictable. The RPN then instructs the UCP to give feedback concerning the results of the suppository. Assigning tasks encompasses the job description of the RPN/RN charge nurse position by allocating responsibility for providing care to another individual (CNO, 2013). An example of assigning would incorporate an RPN who is giving the responsibility of taking a client’s vital signs to a UCP in a long-term care facility as it is in their education and training and the facilities policy and procedure guidelines. The UCP is accountable

Delegation in nursing comes under an umbrella of patient care management. A nurse will find it impossible to provide safe, effective care for her patients without some help from others. Delegation means to entrust (a task or responsibility) to someone else, typically one who is in a position of lesser responsibility than oneself. Objectives Use of the five delegation rights as a guide for safe and effective patient care.

To provide safety, critical thinking, stability and time usage the registered nurse needs to take several steps to foster effective delegation. Several steps in the delegation process that need to be followed using appropriate authority. These include, selecting “ the right task under the right circumstances, to the right person, with the right direction and communication, and under the right supervision and evaluation” (Yoder-Wise, 2015).

Huber (2014) states that there are naturally psychological responses associated with delegating. In addition, some nurses may have difficulty letting go control, as is the case with Samantha. These nurses often reclaim some of the delegated responsibilities. Consequently, this behaviour undermines staff’s morale by devaluing work they would have done. In fact, this behaviour questions the competence of her colleagues and creates a sense of mistrust between the nurse and her colleagues. Furthermore, Huber pointed out the emotional distress experienced by both the nurse and co-workers. However, she attributes this behaviour to novice nurses, insecurity or feeling indispensable as reasons for not delegating or reneging on it. According to Huber

Delegation is the responsibility of the knowledgeable and educated nurse. The nurses understanding of the level of skill the person posses is imperative to the successful act of delegating. Once the skill is performed it is the responsibility of the professional nurse to evaluate if it was completed and documented accurately. “Professional nurses use nursing judgment in delegation” (CNN, 2015).

This paper will attempt to show what skills are necessary for effective delegation, and how the managers of the author 's organization uses delegation in his or her management responsibilities. The paper will also attempt to show how delegation could be used more effectively within the four functions of management in that same organization. Through delegation managers combine task responsibilities and the authority needed to carry out tasks in the organization. The author will also discuss some advantages of delegation as well as the issue of poor delegation.

Delegation is an important function in any organization and in today’s environment we see it becoming increasingly important in the health care setting. For management to make the best use of their time and skills effective delegation of tasks to the staff assists in their growth and development, builds confidence and trust, and increases the amount of work completed. Effective delegating provides benefits to the organization when managers mobilize resources, share responsibilities, and focus on doing a few tasks well, rather than many things less effectively resulting in increased management and leadership potential. The need for accessible, affordable, quality health care and an ever-growing shortfall of practitioners and providers