Applied Nursing Research
Volume 21, Issue 1 , Pages 8-14, February 2008

Delegation: What it means to acute care nurses☆

  • Theresa S. Standing, PhD, RN

      Affiliations

    • Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-4904, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 216 368 4700 (work), +1 440 423 7949 (home); fax: +1 216 368 3542.
    • ,
  • Mary K. Anthony, PhD, RN

      Affiliations

    • College of Nursing, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA

Received 1 May 2005; received in revised form 10 July 2006; accepted 10 August 2006.

Abstract 

As health care costs rise, nurses are increasingly delegating tasks to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). The purpose of this phenomenologic study was to describe delegation from the perspective of the acute care nurse. We analyzed interviews with staff nurses, and a description of the meaning of delegation was developed using Donabedian's structure, process, outcome model to organize the findings. The process of delegation centered on communication and on nurse–UAP relationship and was shaped by the structural themes. The outcomes of delegation included nursing and patient outcomes. An enhanced content on communication and interpersonal relations is needed in nursing education.

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☆ This study was funded by the American Nurses Foundation.

PII: S0897-1897(07)00135-8

doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2006.08.010

Applied Nursing Research
Volume 21, Issue 1 , Pages 8-14, February 2008

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