Delegation Delegation
Delegation Delegation
Delegation Delegation
Delegation
Sandeep Athwal
California State University, Stanislaus
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Delegation
Introduction
With the busy shifts of nurses in todays health care environment, there are some times
when tasks can be divided to accomplish more tasks and increase the quality of care given to
patients (Voss, 2014). However, it is not enough to merely delegate task based upon how much
work others can do. The nurse who is delegating needs to keep in mind five factors when
planning to delegate any given task. The five factors are known as the five Rs:
Definition and Situation
Delegation is giving a task to another person while retaining a duty of care and legal
liability of the patient (Mullen, 2014). The five rights must be followed by the delegator in order
to responsibly carry out the act of delegation. The five rights of delegation include choosing the
right person, communicating the right result needed, giving the right deadline, giving the right
authority level to the person delegated to, and allowing for the right evaluation after the task is
completed (Boomer, 2013). Working in the Medical-Surgical floor, the staff often gets lots of
discharges and admits throughout any time in the shift. Sometimes, charge nurses might need to
distribute new admits to nurses even if they feel like the floor nurses have a big enough patient
load at the time. More often than not, just as I feel like I am on top of my task and intervention
list, more new admits and patients awaiting transfer/discharge are given to me. This kind of event
often sets me back and I begin to play catch up while feeling guilty about not being able to give
more attention to every single one of the patients that were already a part of my group. The
charge nurse often must delegate out of need because the Emergency Department is consistently
overcrowded with triage patients waiting to get placed in a hospital bed.
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Delegation Analysis
The Charge nurse ensures that the needs of the patient can actually be met at the floor he
or she is going to. Along with that, the charge nurse knows the scope of all of the nurses working
on the unit. There are a few Licensed Vocational Nurses on the unit and Certified Nursing
Assistants who do not have the same scope as a Registered Nurse has. This scope is kept in mind
and the needs of the patient are kept in mind when assigning patients to nurses. There is always
enough pertinent information provided by the charge nurse about the patients she or he will be
giving to me. The charge nurse performs evaluation when he or she asks for updates on the
patients throughout the shift. The five Rs of delegation are definitely met as described above. I
do not think supervision in this case is necessary, but I do appreciate whenever the charge nurse
is willing to help out around the unit when nurses might be struggling or falling behind on tasks.
Conclusion
By learning how to appropriately delegate tasks during the hectic shifts nurses typically
work in, nurses can improve their effectiveness of the unit and accomplish a higher level of care.
It is important for nurses to realize that delegation is not a simple matter in which one just
transfers the responsibility of unwanted and tedious tasks to others and that delegation is a
complex, yet fruitful action that can make the most of the healthcare team in any given shift. As
one member out of dozens of types of healthcare professionals working on any given shift, I will
keep in mind what makes delegation more effective and what the positive results can be from it
whenever I am delegated to or if I am the one delegating tasks. It is easy to forget rationale and
instructions that come with the act of delegating when one is busy and working in a hectic
environment, but with the help of literature, nurses can review and utilize this information.
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References
Boomer, J. (2013). Five steps to effective delegation. CPA Practice Advisor, 23(6), 34.
Mullen, C. (2014). Accountability and delegation explained. British Journal of Healthcare
Assistants, 8(9), 450-453.
Voss, E. (2014). Delegation: an ethical perspective. Minnesota Nursing Accent, 86(4), 12-14.