Question

Discuss principles to follow in the appropriate delegation of patient care activities?

Answer 1

Ans) Nursing care delivery models determine how nursing personnel deliver patient care.

- A nurse's role in a team nursing model differs from that in a primary nursing model. As a nurse, it is the responsibility to decide whether to perform an intervention, delegate it to an unlicensed member of the nursing team, or have an RN colleague assist you.

- The ongoing assessments of the patients, the priorities of each, and not an intervention alone, direct your decision about delegation. It is the legal duty to follow delegation guidelines and only delegate interventions within the delegate's training and ability according to the state Nurse Practice Act.

- Patient care staff work together as patients' needs demand it. If a patient makes a request such as use of a bedpan or assistance in feeding, help the patient if you have time rather than trying to find a nursing assistive personnel (NAP) who is in a different room. Nursing staff respect colleagues who show initiative; collaborate together; and communicate with one another on an ongoing, reciprocal basis as patients' needs change. When interventions are complex or physically difficult, you will need assistance from colleagues.

- For example, you and the NAP more effectively change a dressing in a large gaping wound when you apply the dressing and the NAP assists with patient positioning and handing off of supplies.