For example, it may be appropriate for unlicensed assistive personnel to feed patients requiring assistance with the activities of daily living. Patients who are or may become unstable and cases with unpredictable outcomes are not good candidates for delegation. In so doing, Mark may ask the following questions: (1) are appropriate equipment and resources available to perform the task, (2) does the delegatee have the right supervision to accomplish the task, and (3) is the environment favorable for delegation in this situation? To appropriately answer these questions, it is imperative that Mark completes an assessment on each client. Īfter determining the right tasks for delegation, Mark considers the right circumstances of delegation. These actions should not be delegated to someone who is not a registered nurse. Generally, registered nurses are responsible for assessment, planning, and evaluation within the nursing process.
Some questions he may ask at this time would include (1) which tasks are legally appropriate to delegate and (2) can I delegate these tasks based on this organization’s policies and procedures? Correctly answering these questions will require familiarity with institutional and nurse practice act guidance. He decides to use the five rights of delegation to help with his delegation decisions.įirst, Mark needs to determine which tasks are right to delegate. However, Mark is unsure what he can delegate and to whom. He knows he must delegate some of the tasks to his coworkers. Mark also needs to make hourly rounds within the next few minutes, and he is very behind on his charting. These tasks include a linen change for a patient who just vomited, an assessment of a possibly infiltrated intravenous line, and the administration of intravenous pain medication for a patient who rates her pain 10 out of 10.
During the middle of his busy night shift, Mark has several tasks that need to be completed quickly. He is now on his second week of non-precepted practice on a busy medical-surgical unit. Mark is a new graduate registered nurse who has recently completed nursing orientation. Therefore, the American Nurses Association developed the five rights of delegation to assist nurses in making safe decisions.įive Rights of Delegation Case Study Approach Possible legal and ethical constraints arise regarding delegation in nursing. The registered nurse is always accountable for the overall outcome of delegated tasks based on each state's nurse practice act provisions. During delegation, delegators transfer responsibility and authority for completing a task to the delegatee however, the delegator always maintains accountability for the task's completion. This authority derives from nurse practice acts and organizational policies and job descriptions.Īccountability within the nursing context refers to nursing professionals’ legal liability for their actions related to patient care.
#DELEGATING TASKS PROFESSIONAL#
The delegator is a registered nurse who distributes a portion of patient care to the delegatee.īased on individual states’ nurse practice acts, registered nurses have a professional duty to perform patient care tasks dependably and reliably.Īuthority refers to an individual’s ability to complete duties within a specific role. Delegation involves at least two individuals: the delegator, and the delegatee.
These groups describe delegation as the process for a nurse to direct another person to perform nursing tasks and activities. One of the most commonly cited definitions of the word was jointly established by the American Nurses Association and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Many definitions for delegation exist in professional literature.