The Delegation of Duties in Nursing

The five principles of delegation

The five principles of delegation outlined in American Nursing Association are as follows. The first one is the right task which requires nurses to assess a patient, and determines the action to be delegated to a specified member of the healthcare team. The second principle is the right circumstances. It is through proper circumstances that nurses identify the patient’s healthcare needs that has to be attended to by the assigned tasks, and the outcome to be achieved. The third is the principle of right person where registered nurses consider individual’s skills before the delegation of duties. The fourth is the right communication in which licensed nurses should state when and how the delegated responsibility should be achieved. Fifth is the right supervision whereby the registered nurses are to supervise the staff performance with regard to the delegated tasks (Josephsen, 2013).

The errors which are likely to arise during the delegation of duties

The errors which are likely to arise during the delegation of duties include: not assigning complete tasks, insisting the assignments to be done in the individual’s way, the failure to explain the function and placing blame when the task is wrongly performed.

The delegation mistakes can be avoided

The delegation mistakes can be avoided through precisely preparing what assignment is to be given. Secondly, confirming that the delegated task is well understood by the staff handling it (Winland-Brown, Lachman, & Swanson, 2015). Thirdly, the licensed nurses should reinforce the commitment of the team performing the delegated task. The fourth is to avoid the reverse delegation which the registered nurses ends up doing tasks transferred to others (Winland-Brown, Lachman, & Swanson, 2015).

Caring for patients with immune system problems

When caring for patients with immune system problems, the following should be put into consideration. It is essential to ensure that the client eats a well-balanced diet, also general hygiene should be observed, and he or she should exercise regularly (Josephsen, 2013). All these factors will help in boosting the patient’s immune system.

Important things to be considered by a nurse when caring for a patient with oxygen problems

Important things to be considered by a nurse when caring for a patient with oxygen problems are as follows. First, a nurse should make sure that the oxygen provided to the patient is of proper humidity (Kim & Gu, 2015). Secondly, the client should be given pain medications as specified by a doctor (Kim & Gu, 2015). And third, a nurse should ensure that the patient stays in an optimal position to reduce breathing difficulties (Kim & Gu, 2015).

Evidence-based practice

Evidence-based practice makes sure that nurses do not work in a vacuum, but rather together as the members of the healthcare team. Hospitals that capitalize on evidence-based practice provide the medical staff with favorable working condition, thus improving the safety, quality, and competent care (Josephsen, 2013).

References

DiCenso, A., Guyatt, G., & Ciliska, D. (2014). Evidence-based nursing-e-book: A guide to clinical practice. London: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Josephsen, J. (2013). Teaching nursing delegation: An on-line case study. Teaching and Learning in Nursing, 8(3), 83-87.

Kim, E.J., & Gu, M.O. (2015). Recognition for nursing competency importance, nursing competency level, and their influencing factors of nurses in the long-term care hospitals. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial Cooperation Society, 16(3), 1989-2001.

Winland-Brown, J., Lachman, V.D., & Swanson, E.O.C. (2015). The new code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. 2015: Practical clinical application, Part I. Medsurg Nursing, 24(4), 268-71.