Question

What principles should the professional nurse use when delegating to unlicensed personnel? Because the licensed nurse is liable for care performed by an unlicensed person, how do you protect yourself and your patients? What does your state’s nursing law and rules say about delegation to unlicensed workers?

Answer 1

Ans) Delegation generally involves assignment of the performance of activities or tasks related to patient care to unlicensed assistive personnel while retaining accountability for the outcome. The registered nurse cannot delegate responsibilities related to making nursing judgments.

- RN responsible for:
they are responsible for their assignments as well as making sure what they delegated was done properly.

- Unlicensed assistive personnel:
any unlicensed personnel to whom nursing tasks are delegated and who work in settings with structured nursing organizations.

- UAP perform tasks on:
stable pts who are in uncomplicated situations.

- As an RN, what 2 things must you communicate to the UAP/LPN when delegating:
-time frame
-priority of the task