Registered Nurses And Proper Delegation Of Care

Under the regulations of the California Nurse Practice Act, a Licensed Vocational Nurse has the ability to delegate tasks to unlicensed assisted personnel (UAP) according to individual facility policy. Delegation as stated in Hill & Howlett is defined as, “transferring the authority to perform nursing duties that are in the job description of the LVN charge nurse.” Prior to carrying out this important nursing duty, it is important for the LVN to recognize the difference between assigning tasks and delegating tasks. As explained in an article in the Journal of Nursing regulation titled; National Guidelines for Nursing Delegation. Assigning tasks would involve performing “routine care, activities, and procedures that are within the authorized scope or practice of the LVN or part of the routine functions of the UAP. Delegating tasks on the other hand is defined as “allowing a delegate to perform a specific nursing

Delegating is one of the most valuable leadership skills a charge nurse possesses.   Effective delegation skills are essential for proper patient care and safety. Delegation is defined as when a nursing professional entrusts the performance of a nursing task to someone who is qualified, competent, and able to perform the assigned task (Q1).  In order for the charge nurse to delegate effectively,  he or she must take into consideration the patient's needs as well as the capabilities of the nursing professional for whom he or she is delegating the task to. The American Nurses Association outlines The Five Rights of Delegation as a guideline for nursing professionals.  The first right is for the professional to determine if the task is one to

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.

According to the ANA, Delegation is when a nurse who is responsible for nursing care delivery, transfers responsibility of a task to an LPN/ LVN or nursing assistive personnel while retaining accountability for a safe outcome (ANA, 2012). There are five rights of delegation; These include, the right task, the right circumstance, the right person, the right communication and the right supervision" (ANA, 2012). In the right task, the nurse takes into consideration whether it is within a person’s scope of practice to perform the task being delegated.

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’

para. 1). Registered Nurses should be emotionally stable, so they can help the families through rough times (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 47). An RN also needs to be organized, and to make sure the patient gets what they need when needed (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 48). All RN’s will need to have the patients medical issues, and problems handy and to give the patients, and their medicines when the patients need it (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 8). An RN will usually records what the patient is doing, sometimes work with medical machinery, talk to doctors about the patient, and help the patient and the patient’s family on how to deal with their medical problems (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 8). Another important thing that an RN will need is to have the physical stamina and to be ready to lift or transfer patients (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 49). An RN will have to be able to lift at least 10 pounds, maybe even 20 pounds (“Registered Nurse” para. 4). A person in this career should have an energy level that is somewhat high, has a skill that is interpersonal, and a knowledge that is a little scientific (“Career” para. 6). If you happen to be an RN in a nursing home, an RN will watch over the LPN’s and CNA’s, may start fluids for the patient, make plans for treatments, and manage the patients health

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

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.

The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligations to provide optimum patient care. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) The nursing student realized that she wasn’t an expert in pharmacokinetics and requested the help of a pharmacist to provide quality care for her patient. (Bosek & Savage, 2007, p. 59) Delegation is a huge responsibility and should never be taken lightly. The duty of the nurse is to ensure the patient receives quality care. This means delegating responsibilities to others to ensure that care is met. If a nurse feels she is unsure of a certain area of care, that nurse is obligated to find the precise person who can provide that care. The author’s daughter (Bella) was in the hospital for a reoccurring MRSA infection. When the nurse walked in the door they were asked a question regarding infectious disease protocols and how best to handle the situation. Instead of giving an answer they thought might be correct, the nurse requested that an infectious disease doctor be called in to answer all questions concerning the patient.

This is the legal liability the practitioner owes to the patient. By accepting the responsibility to perform a task the practitioner must ensure the task is performed competently at least to the standard of the ordinarily competent practitioner in that type of task. If a practitioner such as a registered nurse should delegate a task, then that practitioner must be sure that the delegation is appropriate. This means that the task must be necessary; and the person performing the delegated task, for example a HCA, must understand the task and how it is performed, have the skills and abilities to perform the task competently and accept responsibility for carrying it out

not have control of delegation: “The RN may delegate components of care but does not

It is up to the nurse/delegator to determine the delegatee’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and any training that will ensure that the task will be handled appropriately and safely. If it is necessary the nurse/delegator must provide instruction and direction to the delegatee. The nurse/delegator or another qualified nurse must be available to supervise the delegate and delegated task. The level of supervision needed will be determined by the training, capability, and willingness of the delegate to perform the task. A delegate may not delegate to another person or expand the delegated task without the permission of the nurse/delegator. Once the delegated task is completed the nurse must evaluate the delegated task, patient’s health status, determination if the goals are being met and if the delegation of the task may be continued (UT Admin Code R156-31b. Nurse Practice Act Rule, 2013). In section R156-31b-704 the rules for the recognized scope of practice of an RN are outlined. It states that the RN, RN managers, and RN administrators should practice

Under the scope of practice of an RN from the New York State Education Department, an RN can diagnose and treat human responses to actual or potential health problems. To be able to perform those tasks a care plan must be made for each client. An RN manages the health care services such as observing and assessing the health status of clients and implementing/assessing nursing care. This all falls under the initial assessment of a client, which is within the scope of an RN. An RN uses information gathered as part of client assessment, they then have the capacity to assign client care to other members of the nursing team, RNs and LPNs, and assign tasks to other care providers such as nurse’s assistant. Even though there are parts of the nursing process that may be delegated to qualified personnel, the initial assessment is the RNs responsibility. The initial assessment is the basis for safe and appropriate client care, which makes it so vital and why not just anyone can perform it. RNs hold the overall responsibility in the nursing