Delegation

[JudithL_in_NH]

I'd appreciate members' thoughts on a subject I'm doing a brief presentation on tomorrow to fellow nursing students in my clinical group.

--What's the easiest task for you to delegate, and why?

--What's the hardest task for you to delegate, and why?

For me, it's easy to delegate ADL-type stuff--I figure it's simple and clear to know what the objectives and outcomes are, and even if not done perfectly on a given shift, these don't impact care/safety significantly.

For me, it's harder to delegate anything that does directly impact care/safety--even VS and blood sugars--that data is too important in my decision making--guess I just haven't learned to trust and let go.

It's also hard for me to delegate REALLY dirty work (e.g., massive code brown, bathing a person of great size who hasn't had optimal hygeine)--I usually offer to do it with someone, rather than asking them to handle it alone.

Any thoughts?

[Nurse Bethie]

Hi! Delegating ADL tasks is a topic up for debate. If you look at an article from Nursing2004 (November, p.57) called "Are you Too Posh to Wash?" and the follow up letters in Nursing2005 (January p.8) there is a arguement for not delegating those ADL tasks.

May be this will spark some debate in your class.

I think that the delegatable tasks are dependant on the patient and the current status of the unit. There is no clear and cut line as to which tasks I will delegate...it changes minute to minute.

Good luck on your project!

[Altra, BSN, RN]

--What's the easiest task for you to delegate, and why?

--What's the hardest task for you to delegate, and why?

For me, it's easy to delegate ADL-type stuff--I figure it's simple and clear to know what the objectives and outcomes are, and even if not done perfectly on a given shift, these don't impact care/safety significantly.

For me, it's harder to delegate anything that does directly impact care/safety--even VS and blood sugars--that data is too important in my decision making--guess I just haven't learned to trust and let go.

It's also hard for me to delegate REALLY dirty work (e.g., massive code brown, bathing a person of great size who hasn't had optimal hygeine)--I usually offer to do it with someone, rather than asking them to handle it alone.

Any thoughts?

Just food for thought ... this seems to assume that the CNA/PCT/delegate-ee has no set job description or duties, other than what gets delegated to them at the moment at the individual discretion of individual nurses. I suspect this is rarely the case. Although the assigned responsibilities of support staff include "whatever needs to be done that is appropriate for their level of training/responsibility," these team members will have assigned responsibilities, often including VS, ADLs and blood sugar checks. The work flow of any unit will be based on the assumption that, for example, a nurse will be passing meds and an aide will be taking routine VS -- *unless* the pt.'s condition dictates taking some other approach.

I agree -- it seems like common sense/common courtesy to pitch in and help out with the physically demanding/less pleasant tasks whenever possible.