Legal Aspects of Delegation, Supervision and Assignment Acceptance

Legal Aspects of Delegation, Supervision and Assignment Acceptance
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Clinical Question
Problem Statement
The realities of a healthcare system face many challenges to the registered nurses plasticising in different care units in delivering quality and safe care to the patients. Registered nurses shortages have at times prompted them to greatly rely on unlicensed lay people in handling some duties on their behalf. Despite the fact that they understand that they remain accountable for patient outcomes in any event arising from the handling by unlicensed persons, RN has been relying upon a regulatory supervision and delegation of duties to these lay personnel. Unlicensed personnel does not understand the communication terminologies used by the nurse's physicians and sometimes do not readily accept the duties because they would have challenges in interpreting patient notes. But since the nurses are their bosses, they partially accept the responsibility. This has then led to poor patient care and in some instances mishandling of patients leading to losing of life. Nurses have been handled according to law as liable to those outcomes.
Problem significance
Relying on regulatory supervision and delegation by nurses has led to poor patient care, mishandling, wrong treatment and loss of life by the patients who received medical prescriptions from the unlicensed personnel as delegated the duties by RN (Twigg, et al. 2016). Preventable medical errors which arise from among the wrong delegation of duties by the nurses account for the loss of life by about 400,000 people annually in the United States. It is the highest number of death cause after heart disease and cancer (Potter, et al. 2016). The wrong delegation of duties within healthcare units is, therefore, a serious problem that needs interventions.
Findings descriptions
Twigg, D. E, H Myers, C Duffield, J. D Pugh, L Gelder, and M Roche. 2016. “The impact of adding assistants in nursing to acute care hospital ward nurse staffing on adverse patient outcomes: An analysis of administrative health data.” International Journal of Nursing Studies (International Journal of Nursing Studies) 63, 189-200
Concepts Discussed
The article discussed in detail the issues of nursing and patient outcomes when the assistants are left alone in the ward without supervision from the RN. There was an increase in patient fall when the assistants were left alone unlike when they were working together with the RN. Improper delegation of duties and patient outcomes were also discussed in the article.
Methods Used
The author used Quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design. Data was collected through the WA Data Linkage Unit from all the admissions done.
Sample
The sample consisted of 125762 pre-test period and 130540 post-test patients who spent time in rehabilitation, surgical or medical ward during their admission. Nursing assistants involved were 50 and 20 nurses.
Instrument Used
The researcher used WA Data Linkage Unit as a data collection instrument. At the end of the report, the author acknowledges the limitations of the instrument such as omitting of some d...