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A delegation is as important to the Nurse as to the student about to take the NCLEX. Why in my mind I thought this would be a one-off topic, I don’t know what I was thinking. Delegation can be tricky, some things may change state to state. Please look at your individual state’s Nurse Practice Act, for specifics. If you are not in the United States, I know the field of practice is a completely different country to country. I digress, Delegation. Let us start with some basics, this may take a few articles.
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A delegation is the “transfer of responsibility” to perform a task from one person to another (Sullivan, 2013). Let’s say you are the nurse, you need to give pain medications to “patient A”, but “patient B” asked for ice and a sandwich. You call your tech, your nurse’s aide, patient care technician, your unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) and ask them to give “patient B” ice and a sandwich. This is a very small, basic example of delegation, but I want to start here. As the nurse, the patient had asked you for the ice and sandwich. You had accepted responsibility for meeting the needs of the sandwich, in this case satisfying hunger and warm water. When you asked your tech to retrieve the items for the patient your tech’s agreement was a transfer of responsibility to fulfill the needs of the patient. You finishing giving “patient A” the pain medication and round on “Patient B” to make sure the patient received his ice and sandwich, this is the nurse taking accountability that the task was complete. Even though the responsibility of the patients’ needs was given to the technician, you as the nurse, still are accountable to make sure the task was complete.
There are a number of benefits that occur when delegations are performed correctly. The difference between a correct and wrong delegate will be another topic all to itself. Delegation allows multiple tasks to be completed at the same time by different people. The task of the pain medication versus the sandwich, the nurse is unable to ask the UAP, to give medication. The nurse needs to administer the medication but by delegating the smaller task that can be accomplished by the UAP, this increases patients satisfaction, and nurse’s satisfaction within the job and shift. Delegation both relies on good teamwork but also promotes teamwork as well.
Delegation is used each shift, the choice and action to delegate is a carefully strategic move that most nurses are able to make off the top of their head. More subtopics on delegation will come, to help sort out facts and myths, and make sure the proper technique for delegate exchange. Ever had a bad experience with delegation?
Sullivan, E. J. (2013). Effective leadership and management in nursing (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
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