Nursing Management - health care facilities impact nursing practice in myriad ways, and thus a Nurse manager needs to be well aware of all of them.

1. DELEGATION OF
RESPONSIBILITIE
S
SANDHYA C
NURSING TUTOR
AIIMS MANGALAGIRI

2. What is Delegation???
Delegation is getting work done through others
by transferring responsibility for an activity to
another without transferring accountability for
the activity.
It is important to differentiate between
responsibility and accountability.

3. PURPOSE OF DELEGATION
 For assigning routine work .
 For problem solving .
 To reduce workload .
 For the changes in nurse manager's own job emphasis
 For capacity building .
 Assigning task for which the nurse manager does not
have time ( time management. ) .
 Time Saving .
 For quality improvement .

4. DELEGATION
PROCESS

5. NURSE MANAGER
Nurse managers are both accountable and responsible for the
care of all patients in your care unit .You delegate your
responsibility to care for a particular patient to a staff RN.
For example, suppose the staff nurse fails to consult the coverage
schedule and gives too much insulin to a diabetic patient. The Nurse
Manager can be held accountable for the error if they assigned the
task to a nurse who had never been educated to read and understand
how insulin orders were written in that hospital, or a nurse who had
never administered insulin.
The Nurse Manager was not responsible for administering the
insulin,but is responsible for knowing the skills of the staff and
assigning patient care activities to the appropriate staff member.

7. ROLE OF NURSE MANAGER
A key role of a Nurse Manager is to delegate responsibilities to a
qualified and competent person. It is critical to realize that a qualified
person may not necessarily be competent to take over the delegated
responsibility.
This is particularly true when activities are delegated to a RN. The
license qualifies the nurse to perform all activities specified. In
reality, the nurse may not have performed the activity in years,and
requires revaluation before being competent to perform the activity
with the patient.
This really becomes an issue when nurses are reassigned
from their regular unit to work in a unit with different skill-
level requirements. For example, a medical-surgical nurse
may be reassigned to labor and delivery.

8. SIMPLE FLOWCHART TO HELP YOU FIGURE
OUT WHAT SHOULD BE DELEGATED

9. Critical Responsibilities
Unfit for Delegation:
Essential Tasks Requiring
RN Expertise"
Teaching Assessment
Planning Evaluating

10. LEGAL LIABILITY TRANSFERS WITH
TRANSFER OF THE RESPONSIBILITY.
When a Nurse Manager delegates primary care for a patient to an RN, the RN is
legally obligated to give the patient an acceptable level of care.
The Nurse Manager must determine that it is reasonable and prudent to delegate a
particular task to the RN based on the
a) Nurse Manager's knowledge of the staff nurse,
b) the condition of the patient, and
c) the general state of the unit.
Otherwise, the Nurse Manager could also be held liable for the actions of the RN.

11. THE TASKS THAT CAN BE DELEGATED
Job descriptions : Consult the formal job
descriptions for staff members within your
healthcare facility.
Policies and procedures : Become
knowledgeable about the policies and procedures
of your healthcare facility for delegating tasks.
Patient needs : Be aware of the immediate need
of a patient and the competency of your staff.

12. HOW TO DELEGATE A TASK
1. Clearly
understand the
complexity of the
task.
2. Know the time
required to
complete the task.
3. Know the skill
level required to
perform the task.
4. Verify that the staff
member has the skill level
to perform the task & has
recent experience
performing the task.
5. Determine if the
staff member has
time to perform the
task.
6. Develop a
contingency plan if
the desired
outcome isn't
achieved.
7. Establish a level
of supervision
required for the
task.
8. Set criteria for
evaluating the
outcome of the task.
9. Clearly
communicate the task
to your staff member.
10. Confirm that the
staff members accepts
responsibility to
perform the task
11. Determine the
support and equipment
the staff member needs
to perform the task.

14. COMMON DELEGATION ERRORS
UNDER
DELIGATING
OVER
DELEGATING
IMPROPER
DELEGATING

15. BARRIERS TO DELGATION
Barriers in
the delegator
/ supervisor
Personal
perfectionism
Lack of faith in
subordinate
Fear of
subordinate
Love for
Authority
Strict control
Barriers in
the delegate /
Subordinate.
Lack of
experience
Lack of
competence
Lack of self
confidence
Lack of
incentives
Fear of harsh
criticism from
supervisor
Over
dependence
on the boss
Overload of
work.
Barriers in
the situation
/
organization.
Small size of
organization
Decreased
team spirit
Lack of proper
communicatio
n
Confusion in
responsibility
and authority
Urgency, no
time to explain
Criticality of
decisions

16. QUESTIONS
1. When assigning tasks to the nursing team, the nurse should prioritize delegation based on:
a) Seniority
b) Personal preference
c) Patient acuity and staff competency
d) Rotational assignment
2. In the delegation process, what is the primary responsibility of the nurse?
a) Complete all tasks personally
b) Supervise every task assigned
c) Ensure safe and effective task completion
d) Assign tasks based on personal workload