Health and Medicine: Effective Delegation in Nursing

Effective Delegation in Nursing
What would you term as effective delegation in nursing? The general definition of delegation is “to entrust to another responsibility”. (Lanette A., 2012) Drawing from this, the basic requirement for effective delegation is trust. Therefore, we ask ourselves: does the RN trust the delegate? Trust can only be achieved if there are clear expectations and the delegate has the capacity to fulfill those expectations.
It occurs that delegation is a contentious issue which combines both management and decision-making concepts. Its open nature means that the delegator retains full responsibility for the entire process. Even if everyone taking part in the process may be liable for his or her actions, the effectiveness of the RN in delegating is always under scrutiny. (Lanette A., 2012)
Still, the RN has to delegate duties at one time or another. The main question is whether effective delegation is possible. Going by the definition given by Bylgja Kærnested et al (2011), an RN may conduct an effective delegation as long as he or she has the requisite skills and knowledge to match a delegate with the particular task.
There are five rights for delegation as listed among the principles for delegation which the RN must follow. These are; the right person, right duty, right circumstances, right supervision and, right communication channel. (Patricia P. et al, 2010) Apart from that, stakeholders in delegation must follow laid down legal parameters in the nursing field. RNs are authorized to delegate in most states, so the question is about how to delegate.(Robert J., 2011) On this, the RN is expected to consider factors such as stability of the condition, abilities of the delegatee, complexity of the assigned task, and the predictable outcomes etc.
Even with the delegation guidelines and policies in place, delegators still face a number of hurdles in the line of their work. There are about seven identified barriers to effective delegation as identified in “Delegation Skills: Essential to the Contemporary Nurse.”(Violette A. R., 2011) They are;
Clinical leadership experience
Poor partnership between the unlicensed personnel ...