Ethical and Legal aspects of Nursing DQ # 4 Student reply Maydeli Capo

  The following post is another student reply to wish I have to react adding some extra information related to what already the student post. please use APA. 3 references and be careful with similarity it should be less than 20 %.  

Question 1.

Unlicensed assistive personnel are part of the team that provides care to patients. They contribute to the care of patients under the supervision of a licensed nurse (Huston, 2017). The relationship between unlicensed personnel and nurses has been defined by some state boards and some states have included the ANA suggestions for delegation, supervision and assignment (Huston, 2017). Defining the scope of the unlicensed assistive personnel has undergone multiple adaptations with the effort to better clearly define their tasks. The ANA implemented six steps that should define the educational expectations for UAPs. These recommendations include to understand that the UAP does not replace the registered nurse or the licensed nurse, integrate delegation as an aspect of the professional practice and not an act of supervision, specify the competencies the UAP must perform in the form of a guide, promote initiatives and guidelines to predict patient needs, create training opportunities for UAPs, and follow recommendations as those stated by the Institute of Medicine relating to patient safety (Huston, 2017).

Question 2.

Delegation is considered a skill that a registered nurse must master. There are many aspects a nurse must consider prior to delegating such as acuity level of the patient, activity being delegated and difficulty of the task being delegated (Huston, 2017). Delegation is defined as the act of a task being assigned by a registered nurse to someone, specifically and unlicensed member of the staff while being held responsible for the outcome (ANA, 2012). As it is stated in the definition, the licensed person delegating is accountable for the result of the task therefore principles were created to give a framework for licensed personnel to delegate safely and appropriately. Some of the principles stated by Huston (2017) include:

• The registered nurse can delegate activities but the nursing process that includes assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation must not be delegated.
• The registered nurse can delegate but remains responsible for the outcome.
• The registered nurse can delegate tasks that she knows the UAP is skilled to complete according to policies and guidelines.
• Communication must be maintained in order to express concerns regarding the task assigned.
• The registered nurse must follow the five rights of delegation which include: delegate the right task, under the right circumstances, the right person, under the right directions and supervision

Reference

American Nurses Association. (2012) Principles of Delegation. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/~4af4f2/globalassets/docs/ana/ethics/principlesofdelegation.pdf

Huston, C. J. (2017). Professional issues in nursing: challenges and opportunities. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.