Five Rights Of Delegation In Nursing

654 Words2 Pages

Delegation is defined as entrusting a task to another individual while remaining accountable for the result (Mullen, 2014). According to the principles of delegation, an RN may delegate certain areas of care as long as they do not delegate the nursing process itself (Kelly, 2012). In addition, the RN needs to ensure (prior to delegation) that the individual that the task has been delegated to has the proper certification/training to perform the delegated task (Kelly, 2012). Based on the five rights of delegation (the right task, the right circumstance, the right person, the right direction and communication and the right supervision and evaluation), I would delegate the bathing, toileting, bed making, ambulation, transport, positioning, feeding …show more content…

In Florida, the LPN’s are allowed to administer IV medications. However, it is unclear whether the medications can be pain medications or regular medications only. Along with giving pain medications comes patient education on the medications that are being given to the patient. Besides a doctor, an RN is the only one that can perform this task. It is for this reason that I did not feel comfortable delegating administering of medications to the LPN. I also found it difficult to delegate Ms. Q to anyone other than me due to her unstable blood pressure. I felt I was the only one who should be responsible for this patient. A potential barrier could be unhealthy attitude such as the NAP not wanting to assist a patient with a bedpan and clean up due to it being beneath them. This is a problem that I have encountered on several occasions in the clinical setting. Lastly, another potential barrier would be trust. Trusting the delegated task to be completed correctly with patient safety in mind at all times. If delegation is done correctly, the entire team is liable and “will end up in a worse place they started in” (Ellis, 2015, p. 71).
In conclusion, delegation is a complex task. The RN must ensure that the individual the task is being delegated to has the proper certification, knowledge and would report any findings back to the RN. As mentioned above, sometimes there are barriers that impede the ability to effectively delegate. The overall goal of successful delegation depends on working relationships, constant communication, and “a willingness to collaborate” (Potter, Deshields, and Kuhrik (2010, p.

Open Document