student nurse delegation

meownsmile, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2005

NO,, if you are assigned a patient you are responsible for that patients care. You learn your delegation skills during your team leading rotation, then it is appropriate for you to delegate tasks. Until then, you as the student NEED to be DOING the task.

mugwump · Apr 14, 2005

As a nurse do you feel it is appropriate for a student nurse to deligate to LPN's and CNA's?

I feel it depends on where you are in your rotation. Towards the end I feel it is OK but I also feel this should be discussed with your instructor and clear standard verbalized to where you do your clinicals. Nursing students need the confidence and practice of knowing what they can delegate and what they can't

jeepgirl, LPN, NP · Apr 14, 2005

they have to learn delegation skills sometime. please do not jump them for having or wanting to delegate simple tasks. that's part of the job.

i had a rough time delegating when i first got out of school... and i blame it on the attitude of "as a student, you have to do it all." i wanted to do it all myself and i felt that i had to or i would be a "bad" nurse. not true. plus, LPN's, techs, and other nurses need to encourage new nurses to delegate instead of making them feel bad when they ask for help. this attitude also makes it hard for them to delegate because when they try to they meet resistance. this is true for both SN's and GN's.

you know, i would drown some days if i didn't ask for help from my coworkers. and i know that some days, they would drown if they didn't ask me for help (i can't always tell how much they need me if they don't ask!).

of course, if the student is trying to delegate everything or inappropriate tasks, that is a problem. but if the student needs to do the assessments, give the meds, chart the assessments, check the charts, draw the labs, get the patient ready for surgery, etc... i think it is completely appropriate to ask an LPN to give a PRN for you or to ask an NA to give a bed bath for you. who would be doing the job if the student wasn't there? is it something you'd go and do yourself or would you ask for someone to help you if you had the same tasks to complete? then evaluate the situation from there.

Edited to add:

I hope we're not talking about one of these "I'm standing at Mr. Jones bedside, can you put him on the bedpan?" type situations. If so, that's inappropriate. I'm sure you get my drift.

not now, RN · Apr 14, 2005

My instructor would have my butt if I deligated anything unless it was absolutly nessisary (i.e. one of my patients wants off the bedpan and I'm in the middle of a procedure).

SueBoo · Mar 26, 2012

As a nurse do you feel it is appropriate for a student nurse to deligate to LPN's and CNA's?

As a nursing instructor, I can tell you that we are required to teach delegation and hopefully give students the opportunity to delegate. Many problems exist with this though, not the least is the serious "push back" from unlicensed staff who get asked by a student to do something.

Think about it.

Fiona59 · Mar 26, 2012

Nope. Plain and simple. In my facility, the only person who delegates to an LPN is the Charge RN. My co-workers can ask me to assist or cover for them but they can not ask me to care for their patients unless they are going on break, and then they cover mine in return.

Students can not delegate to NAs either. They are there to learn and practice their skills.

My hospital had a huge complaint filed against a student nurse by a patient's family. The family specified that their problems were with the student and not the floor staff. The student just didn't bathe the patient when the staff explained that she had one patient to care for and that was her responsiblity. When the student left the floor at 14:15, the floor staff had to do all the care she had felt that she should be permitted to delegate. Dressings not changed, etc. She basically medicated, assessed, and documented. RNs, LPNs, and NAs offered to assist her with care but she wanted us to do it all. This was when she had one patient, not four which a working nurse has. One patient and she wanted to delegate what she felt was the "grunt work".

allnurses Guide · Mar 26, 2012

Only during transition/preceptorship. Students do have to learn how and when and what to delegate, but it seems to me to be appropriate only once the SN is functioning closer to the RN role, with multiple patients and multiple responsibilities.

MPKH, BSN, RN · Mar 26, 2012

My hospital had a huge complaint filed against a student nurse by a patient's family. The family specified that their problems were with the student and not the floor staff. The student just didn't bathe the patient when the staff explained that she had one patient to care for and that was her responsiblity. When the student left the floor at 14:15, the floor staff had to do all the care she had felt that she should be permitted to delegate. Dressings not changed, etc. She basically medicated, assessed, and documented. RNs, LPNs, and NAs offered to assist her with care but she wanted us to do it all. This was when she had one patient, not four which a working nurse has. One patient and she wanted to delegate what she felt was the "grunt work".

I was taught in school that as a nursing student, my job is to go to clinicals to learn and consolidate my skills. If something needs to be done for my patient, I do it unless it's outside of what I am able to do as a student nurse. I would never, ever dared to delegate to LPNs or NAs.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what happened to that student nurse? And if a nurse ever did what that student did...their licence would be on the line.

Fiona59 · Mar 26, 2012

Answered in PM

Fiona59 · Mar 26, 2012

She eventually graduated but doesn't work locally. She aimed to work in the US.

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Mar 27, 2012

We were only allowed to delegate during our preceptorship. Other than that, we were expected to do everything. During clinicals we always had 1 patient so you had time to do things that you could delegate on a very busy day. There were a few rotations where I took 2 patients but I was still expected to do everything.