[mdtrn]

Are you comfortable delegating to NAs? How do you do it and how do you follow up? What do you do when the task does not get completed? How much of your time does this waste each day?

[meownsmile]

You know,, i shouldnt have to delegate anything if a CNA knows their job. The only time i may have to delegate is if there is something with a new patient or surgical that is out of their normal routine and maybe to let them know how i want vitals done(QID, Qshift etc). Then it isnt very hard to see whether it is done or not.
As far as checking on whether their work is getting done. You check the documentation and if it is documented and you find it wasnt done, they are getting the write up for false documentation. You will hear from your patients if they arent getting baths, linen changes, having to wait to long to use commode or toilet (but then there are other staff that CAN do that too).

[Daytonite]

Hi, mdtrn!

Delegating is something that as a charge nurse or team leader is part of your responsibility. I wouldn't consider it wasted time. After all, you can't do all the nursing tasks yourself. Therefore, you almost have to depend on subordinate staff to help out. Here are some articles on delegation. While they aren't all written for nurses, the principles behind them are sound. Confronting people who do not follow through on their duties can be hard when you've never had to do it before. It requires assertiveness. Practice what you will say and then just say it. Try to keep your voice as calm and pleasant as you can. Your heart pounds and you might even break out in a sweat the first few times because you fear the reaction you might get from the other person. Remember that you have the legitimate authority to do this asking of a subordinate who you have delegated a task to. It gets easier each time you have to do it. Like any other nursing procedure, it is a learned skill.

There are five rights, or principles of delegation:

1. that you are asking someone to do a task that they would normally do frequently, the risk to the patient is minimal and the procedure is a standard, unchanging procedure
2. the task is appropriate for the patient care setting and the necessary resources to perform the task are available to the subordinate
3. the person you delegate the task to has the appropriate training to do the task
4. you communicate a description, objective, and expectation [in other words, instructions] of the task that needs to be done to the subordinate in a clear, concise description
5. you follow up by supervising, monitoring and evaluating the subordinate's performance and intervening if you need to

http://nclextestprep.com/delegation.html - Points to Ponder when Considering Delegation and Nursing Management of Personnel. From The Anderson NCLEX-RN Review.

http://www.indiananurses.org/education/principles_for_delegation.pdf - Principles for Delegation. A 24-page document from the American Nurses Association

http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/ME96/Documents/Aspects/delegate.html?http://oldeee.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/MENG/ME96/Documents/Aspects/delegate.html - Delegation. Everything you need to know about delegation presented concisely.

http://www.ehow.com/how_3816_delegate-responsibility.html - How to Delegate Responsibility

http://www.leadershipdevelopmenttraininghowto.com/elements.htm - The Elements of Delegation

Welcome to allnurses!