For this paper, there are 2 interviews required that are related to the nursing careers. The two interviews that were conducted were from a Charge Nurse, and from a Head Nurse. Each of the interviews are discussed in detail below, separately. The charge nurse is a person who has the duty of a specific department in a healthcare institution for their assigned shift. It should be noted that a charge nurse is a vital job because the person holding this job has to interact not only with the patient and his families, but also has to interact with doctors, nurses, and other staff members in order to update them about the patients that the charge nurse is looking after.
Nursing Delegation for the RN Delegation is considered to be among the most involved nursing skills which require a nurse to apply knowledgeable clinical judgment and accountability during patient care. RNs have an obligation to finding what is needed for patients and families and then using the appropriate delegation to staff to help carry out the plan. This helps maximize on achieving the most desired outcomes and also maximize the use of available resources. The only way to help RNs maximize the available resources is through improving their delegation skills. If a nurse is to be delegated a task, it should be within their scope of nursing and also be tasks they are qualified to perform.
In healthcare industry, delegation of tasks can be defined as the transfer of a particular nursing responsibility to team members such as Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) or Unlicensed Assistive personnel (UAP). While the nursing leader /Registered Nurse (RN) transfers the responsibility to other staff members, he/she retains the professional responsibility of the final outcome (Mueller & Vogelsmeier, 2013). Delegation is guided by specific principles to ensure that the delegated duty is performed as per the instructions of the RN. Since authority is transferred to other staff members who may not be well acquainted with the task, supervision is very important. For instance, the current case study, a group leader is required to delegate responsibilities to his/her team members including UAP, LPN, and LVN.
Nursing care is provided to every patient under the direction of a Registered Nurse which has the responsibility and accountability for the assessment, nursing interventions, delegations to PCA’s (Patient Care Assistant). For instance, nurses can delegate to PCA’s or unlicensed staff to take vital signs, to draw blood, to bathe patients, patient ambulation, etc. The manager has the responsibilities to maintain qualified staff to perform all the tasks, also is responsible for the overall budget, performance improvement, staff retention, etc. The delegation from charge nurse is going to depend on the floors where they work. Some floors allow the charge nurse to take up to two patients, and others, charge nurses only supervise and help other nurses as necessary.
Throughout my nursing career, I have learned when delegating one must remain accountable and responsible. My most vivid delegation experience from my superior occurred my very first night as a new graduate nurse. My charge nurse gave me five patients to give direct care to without me having another licensed personnel to follow. I remember being terrified,
Delegation requires the nurse to make decisions based on patient needs, the complexity of the work, competency of the individual accepting the delegation, and the time that the work is done. “Delegation decisions are sometimes made based on a list of tasks found in a job description, such as taking vital signs, bathing, or ambulating patients” (Weydt, 2010, 10). During making a delegation to unlicensed personnel, the nurse should consider the unlicensed personnel’s the scope of practice of the person that the task is delegating to, the level of education and the training. If all of these aspects are considered by the nurse; then the licensed nurse is working within his or her scope of practice and covers by the Respondeat
For example, if I delegate a job to a nurse assistant, I have to make sure that the nurse assistant who does the work can do it and that this person is under my constant supervision References Weiss, S. A, & Tappen, R. M. (2015). Essentials of nursing leadership and management: (6th Ed). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis
With the support of nursing director, this author can discuss the problems and solutions with management team, finance department, risk managers, quality care team and the nursing staff to obtain adequate support and understanding of the project. There is a nurse educator for both units and she can act as single point of contact nurse case manager from Monday through Friday. The charge nurse will be responsible for night shift and weekends to follow the pilot study. This will avoid appointing any new staff member and save additional costs. Nursing director will be the supervisor of the proposed project and she should get weekly reports from nurse case
Nurses have a responsibility to encourage patients to be as independent as possible. Many nursing codes exist to protect a patients rights whilst under hospital care. This level of care also involves giving the patient autonomy in all interventions provided.
As a duty in-charge nurse, I was caught off guard, and unable to manage this crisis which I was supposed to. Fortunately, Mr Pei was the supervisor on-call, and he showed me how critical the crisis leadership is during such a