Nursing Delegation Report: Leadership Strategies in Nursing Practice

This report examines nursing delegation, focusing on leadership strategies to overcome barriers in nursing practice. It begins by defining delegation according to the New York State guidelines and the National Council of State Board of Nursing (NCSBN), highlighting the roles of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) and unlicensed assistive personnel. The report then identifies and discusses three key strategies for nurse managers to address barriers to delegation, including building confidence in subordinates, clarifying misconceptions about delegation, and addressing concerns about accountability for patient safety. The report includes references to relevant literature on delegation in healthcare settings.

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Nursing
Name of the student:
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Author’s note

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According to the New York State delegation guidelines, delegation is defined as a
process to give opportunity to allow a delegate to engage in a specific nursing activity that is
beyond their actual scope of practice. This guideline applies to licensed practice nurse (LPN)
as well as unlicensed assistive personnel (LPN). Other criteria for delegation as defined by
the National Council of State Board of Nursing (NCSBN) in New York includes the
delegatee should have additional training and competence to perform the delegate task, the
licensed nurse should make the accountability for the patient, the licensed nurse cannot
delegate nursing judgment and the delegated responsibility is within the scope of nursing
practice and within the parameters of scope of practice for a delegatee (National Council of
State Board of Nursing, 2015).
The three strategies that a nurse manager can use to overcome barriers to delegation
include the following:
1. Lack of confidence in subordinate is a major barrier to delegation. To overcome
this barrier, nurse manager can take the step to appreciate the past work of
delegatee and develop the confidence in them that delegation can help them to
develop professionally.
2. Many delegatees are reluctant to take part in delegation as they have
misconception regarding the nature and benefits of such practice. In this case,
nurse managers can use their communication skills to clarify all doubts about
delegation and make the assigned staff understand that they are at no professional
risk during the process and it will stimulate their creativity and critical learning
skills in different situation.
3. Another barrier to delegation is fear of delegates that they will be held
accountable for any patient safety issue. In such case, nursing managers can take
the strategy to set achievable standards for delegatees which they can achieved

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based on their training and extra competency. This will ensure no legal issues
arise (Sayani, 2016).

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References:
National Council of State Board of Nursing (2015). National Guidelines for Nursing
Delegation. Retrieved from:
https://www.ncsbn.org/NCSBN_Delegation_Guidelines.pdf
Sayani, A. H. (2016). Delegation, a strategy to prepare second line nursing management in
health care setting. Int J Innov Res Dev, 5(13), 149-52.