Effective delegation is a skill that can be taught and learned by students and practicing nurses. This presentation will describe leadership and delegation strategies that practicing nurses can employ when faced with increasing patient acuity, interdisciplinary workforces, and an increasing number of unlicensed personnel. Delegation models, systems theory, and prior research findings will be used as a framework of evidence to teach leadership and delegation principles and to guide related delegation decision-making in practice.
Conger’s Delegation Decision-Making Model (1993) offers the following steps in making sound delegation decisions:
1)Identify the required tasks - they can be ordered by a physician, registered nurse or dictated agency policy; 2)Identify the patients problem - problems may be physical, mental, or spiritual, or a combination of any of the three; 3)Select the most appropriate person to delegate to - this decision is based on demonstrated competency, educational background, agency policy, position description, and current licensing legislation.
Evidence from previous studies will demonstrate how the implementation of this model in education and practice contributes to increased knowledge, increase confidence in delegation, and increased components of job satisfaction. We will explore the need for staff development, continuing education, and enhanced undergraduate nursing content relative to the concept of delegation decision-making. Additionally, we will discuss our collective experiences in varied practice environments emphasize the need for additional evidence on the subject of nurse delegation.
Objectives: Participants will be able to: 1) Identify factors that contribute to an increasing need for effective nursing delegation; and 2) describe 3 studies that demonstrate the impact of an evidence-based approach to delegation decision-making.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
9 July 2003