Which of the following indicates safe delegation? a. The nurse superv

QUESTION

Which of the following indicates safe delegation?

a. The nurse supervisor for a large urban acute care department asks the unit manager to accept two new acutely ill patients, which the manager does. The unit is short two staff, and the replacement is inexperienced.
b. A unit manager agrees to release a staff from her unit to Unit B. The staff member she agrees to release is experienced on Unit B and is agreeable to the change. The unit manager’s unit is fully staffed and patients are stable.
c. The nurse supervisor asks the head nurse for Unit A to make do without a replacement for an ill staff member because Unit A was originally overstaffed anyway. Patient acuity levels are very high on Unit A and two staff are orientating.
d. The nurse supervisor asks the charge nurse on Unit B to cover Unit F, which is two floors up, because the charge nurse for Unit F is ill. The charge nurse for Unit B is an experienced manager but has no experience with the nursing care required on Unit F.

ANS: B
When span of control (number of individuals for whom a manager is responsible) is compromised by geographic factors such as lack of proximity, instability in patients’ conditions, or lack of experience, the span of control that is being delegated may lead to unsafe care.

ANSWER:

ANS: A
The Hersey and Blanchard framework suggests that when ability (skills, job knowledge) and willingness are strong, the involvement of the delegator is less.