Delegation Issues as a Student

[senior_studentnurse]

I am a senior nursing student (graduating in less than a month!) doing a Leadership and Management clinical rotation for a BSN program. At this point, I am taking a full load of patients with a preceptor. Although it is part of our competencies to learn proper delegation and time management, I have been having problems. In lecture, the importance of these two things were pounded into our heads. Of course, when I had little to do, I went ahead and assisted patients with toileting/hygiene/eating/etc.

So, if I am behind due to a busy morning, and walk by one of MY patient's rooms and get asked for assistance to get on the bedside commode, would it be appropriate for me to delegate this task to a CNA standing at the nursing station? By delegating, of course, I don't mean commanding. Also, by "behind," I mean I still have other patients to assess and give medications to, then chart.

I don't mean to sound pretentious or anything like that. I simply need a better understanding of leadership and management. I would appreciate any response, especially from others in a BSN program (since they claim to focus on leadership and management). Thank you.

[virgo,student nurse, CNA]

I am not a BSN student yet, but I am in the business of delegating something to someone everyday. I look at it like this:

It is okay to ask for help from someone when you are behind or busy. If you see the aide sitting at the desk reading a magazine, you should ask them for help toileting the person.

My opinion on the situation is this, sometimes you have to ask for someone to do the things, that at the moment you can not do. The aide can help you toilet the person, but the aide can not give your meds, or chart on your patients. So you have to look at it as a team effort, and when you have the time help the aide out, and they won't feel like you are "commanding" them. Hope this helps.

[senior_studentnurse]

I am not a BSN student yet, but I am in the business of delegating something to someone everyday. I look at it like this:

It is okay to ask for help from someone when you are behind or busy. If you see the aide sitting at the desk reading a magazine, you should ask them for help toileting the person.

My opinion on the situation is this, sometimes you have to ask for someone to do the things, that at the moment you can not do. The aide can help you toilet the person, but the aide can not give your meds, or chart on your patients. So you have to look at it as a team effort, and when you have the time help the aide out, and they won't feel like you are "commanding" them. Hope this helps.

Thank you. I completely agree. The reason I asked is because the following week, one of the veteran CNAs reprimanded me for my actions. I was told, "if you can't hold your thoughts for the next 15 minutes to help the patient, then you shouldn't be a nurse." At that point, I realized there was no point in further discussion, so I just said "thank you for bringing this to my attention."

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Yes it is okay. You cannot possibly do EVERYTHING yourself, so delegation is a very essential skill, but it takes time to learn. You delegate tasks that you cannot do at the moment but you need to make sure that what you are delegating is within the scope of whom you are delegating too. Therefore, you cannot delegate passing meds or starting an IV to a CNA or other UAP; that would have to be another nurse. It is also your job to make sure the task gets done.

And please, don't be the nurse that grabs a CNA and asks them to do something (such as putting a pt on the bedpan or cleaning them up) because you're "too busy" but really you sit at the nurses station chatting up a storm with the other nurses. That infuriates me - in the past when I worked as a PCNA/tech and it still does as an RN! Your CNA's are a valuable asset and can make or break your shift. Please be nice and treat them with respect!

[whitn23]

Definitely! As a tech I've had nurses come tell me that they had put a pt. in the bathroom and to watch for the light because they were going to another room. Or they asked me to do it. Totally okay to delegate that. :) And I will say that we are hitting this hard as well because most people that have taken the NCLEX lately have said a LOT of the questions were on delegating and prioritizing (I'm getting my ASN).