Delegation in Clinical Practice

Delegation in clinical practice 1
DELEGATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Delegation in clinical practice 2
Introduction
Management in health care is of importance and ensures that the aims and goals of a
particular health care facilities are achieved. There are various forms of management concepts
that are of importance within a clinical setting. They include delegation, supervision, conflict and
change management. All these are important to ensure that activities run smoothly within the
healthcare facility as well as care provision is carried out efficiently. Delegation is an important
management concept that involves the transfer of a responsibility for the carrying out of a
particular activity from one person to another (Smith & Zeller, 2018). It involves giving
instructions to another person to perform a certain task. The aim of this discussion is to critically
analyze the application of delegation concept within a clinical setting. It will discuss a situation
experienced in clinical practice that required delegation and the lessons learned from the
experience.
Clinical Experience
In clinical practice there is a hierarchy of leadership that helps in the smooth running of
activities. Nursing and healthcare provision should revolve around the patient and the application
of a patient-centered care results in good health outcomes (Siegel et al, 2017). In a hospital
setting, care providers including doctors and nurses are considered as leaders within the
institution hence may need to delegate certain duties for the care of patient. There is a
considerable number of employees that interact within the healthcare setting with an objective to
improve care provision and enhance the healing process and safety of patients. In my clinical
practice as a registered nurse, I have encountered and observed situations that required
application of management concepts to ensure that the care provision process is comprehensive
and complete.

Delegation in clinical practice 3
In one of this situations in clinical practice I observed the chief nurse in my work place
delegate duties to one of my nurse colleagues. In this situation, the patient had been admitted due
to a severe form of ulcerative colitis that had developed to pancolitis. The condition was so
severe that the patient had to undergo a colectomy. The patient was being prepared for surgery
that was due in 10 hours. The chief nurse in this situation delegated one of the nurses the
responsibility of ensuring that the patient does not take any food prior to the surgery in order to
ensure successful outcomes of the surgical process. The nurse was to ensure that the hospital
caterers or visitors do not feed the patient until the surgery is conducted. The patient was also to
be given strict instructions on avoiding solid food prior to the surgery by the nurse who was
delegated that responsibility.
Application of delegation in clinical practice.
Delegation requires keen observation and monitoring to ensure that the delegated duty is
performed (Barrow & McMillan, 2018). In relation to the delegation concept, I would have
handled this situation by first ensuring that I have involved the right person to perform the task. I
would keenly scrutinize the capability of the individual am delegating the responsibility to and
ensure that they are the best people to perform the task. This can be well described as
assessment. It entails looking at the situation at hand and analyzing it so as to choose the right
person suitable for the task (Saqer & AbuAlRub, 2018). I would ensure that the person I delegate
this responsibility to has knowledge of the patient’s condition and is well involved in the care
provision of the patient. The nurse that is to be delegated this duty must also have a good rapport
with the patient at hand. They should be aware of the time the patient feeds and ensure that they
do not take anything. In addition to this, the person I delegate this duty to must know the people
involved in feeding the patient and ensure that they deliver this information to them.