student nurse delegation

Nurses General Nursing

Published

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

Delegate as a student nurse? Crap. As a student nurse, I was delegated to.

Specializes in Trauma, Emergency.

I gotta say, as a student nurse I'm here to learn nursing skills. I am already a nurse aide, I had to go through my nurse aide classes and clinicals to get that certificate. I do not at all mind doing things like bathing pts or measuring liquid stool from a BSC, but if I have a choice between starting an IV and cleaning a BSC, you bet your hiney I will respectfully and politely delegate to my pt's NA-I'm not going to miss an opportunity to learn or practice an important nursing skill to do a job I already know how to do. Nursing students should absolutely be curious, enthusiastic, kind and respectful while in clinical setting, but floor staff should remember that we are there to learn. We are not free labor. We hope to lighten the loads of the NA and the RN as much as possible, but the NA and RN must also understand that just because we are there it isn't a "one fewer pt to worry about for the day" type of situation. I start each rotation shift by communicating with my RN and NA on what I am allowed and expected by my instructor to do and not do for the day- because though the floor staff are very invaluable in my nursing education, ultimately my instructor is my "boss." if she tells me to delegate some tasks for the day so that I can spend extra time at clinical researching labs or perhaps my pt's procedure, I will do so, and I will do so without feeling badly about it. I live when I am able to take some heat off a hardworking awesome NA, but they are paid to be there and work, while I am paying to learn. So I think that respectful within-reason delegation from NS is definitely acceptable. And while I may be delegating so that I can maybe spend extra time researching a pt's condition, rest assured that I am working very hard! Just not in a way that directly takes burden off staff at the moment. But at the end of the day, that's not why we're there- we are there to learn. When it is helpful to the staff, excellent! But at times when it is not, remember that we are students of nursing, not NA duties. We are required to be NAs to start my nursing program; we already know those skills. We're here to learn new ones! Just my 2 cents.

Specializes in Trauma, Emergency.

Correction: I love when I'm able to take some heat off, not I live. Stupid iPhone! :-)

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