Help please, delegation to LPN and UAP

[studentnurserachel]

As a class, we always prepare review items for the final exam and one of my topics is delegation to UAPs and LPNs. I thought this would be relatively easy, but I can't find anything in any of my NCLEX books or online, even though we've had several questions this semester about delegation. So I'm not looking for any state-specific stuff, because I've already been over the NC Nurse Practice Act, but any delegation stuff would be appreciated, general, specific, sample questions, anything. Thanks in advance!

[SheriLynnRN]

My books are all packed away, so I can't give you any sources to cite, but I'll tell you what I remember from school. It holds true in the real world. No matter what you delegate, either to a UAP or LPN, you are responsible for it. You must know their limitations and skill level. You need to know if it is within their scope of practice, and also if that specific person is capable of doing the task as well as you would. You are ultimately responsible for making sure it is documented approriately, as well as supervising during the process if necessary. In the case of a UAP, you cannot delegate anything that requires nursing judgement, such as "walk Mr. Smith and let me know if he might need a PT consult." UAP tasks must be predictable and routine. They must report the outcome to you.

Hope this helps a bit. Just ask if you think of anything else.