Delegating Task

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One of the most important tasks that a nurse has while on duty is properly delegating tasks to the right personnel. When this duty isn’t properly performed, several issues that hinder patient care can arise. Barriers to effective delegation can include the nurse’s lack of continuing supervision once the task is delegated, ensuring that the correct task is entrusted to personnel with proper education to carry out the duty, and ineffective communication and understanding of the tasks to be performed. As Zerwekh writes on page 321 in chapter 14 of Nursing Today: Transition and Trends, it can be uncomfortable for a nurse to provide feedback on a peer’s performance. This is a task that is crucial as supervision requires the nurse to follow-up on all delegated tasks. The responsibility of ensuring the correct completion of the outlined delegated job is dependent on the nurse. Nurses have also expressed the difficulty in delegating tasks due to the unwelcome challenge of being held responsible for the actions of others (Laskowski-Jones, 2014). Supervising a task can be particularly strenuous during a period of time that may be especially busy during the workday which can lead …show more content…
For example, a Registered Nurse cannot instruct a Licensed Practical Nurse to perform an admission assessment on a patient because this is outside of the LPN’s scope of practice. In addition if delegating a task, such as giving a bed bath to a Certified Nursing Assistant, the RN must ensure that the aide has the proper knowledge and skills to complete the task in a safe and proper manner (Pabst, 2013). In order for a nurse to properly delegate a task and avoid a prospective barrier to completion of the task, they must ensure that the job to be performed is within the skill level of the assistive personnel that have been put in charge of the