Delegation of Registered Nurses Revisited: Attitudes towards Delegation and Preparedness to Delegate Effectively

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of registered nurses (RNs) towards delegation, their preparedness to delegate effectively, and to determine whether attitude and preparedness are related to age, experience, education in delegation, workload, and job satisfaction. This was a descriptive correlation design study. Data were collected with a paper-and-pencil questionnaire in five medical acute care inpatient units at a university hospital in Iceland (N=96). Participants were 71 RNs. Most participants have a positive attitude towards delegation and identify themselves as prepared to delegate effectively. However, some of the answers indicate potential for improvement. The majority find they spend a large amount of time on jobs others could do and agree to some extent that skills of practical nurses could be better utilised through more effective delegation. Age, experience, and former education on delegation are significantly related to a number of attitude and preparedness issues regarding confidence in delegating, mutual trust, collaboration, and communication between RNs and assistance personnel. Effective delegation by RNs needs to be supported by teaching, practising and nurturing mutual trust and effective communication in nursing teams.

Nurse Managers’ Attitude and Competency Towards Delegation in Jeddah City

“…This result conflicts with those of Kaernested &Bragadottir (2012), who found that participants were not competent to delegate, while this study found that participants were competent and ready to delegate [16]. Two-third of studied sample responded that they were never concerned that staff found them lazy for delegating tasks.…”

“…This finding is at odds with the earlier findings of Kaernested &Bragadottir (2012), where participants reported positive attitudes regarding delegation [16]. Two-third of the studied sample disagreed with the statement that they did not feel they have time to delegate properly.…”

“…It can therefore be concluded that attitudes and competency are decidedly related to each other, and this finding supports the results of Kaernested & Bragadottir (2012) who also concluded that attitudes and competency were the basis of delegation and were associated with age, experience, communication and training in delegation [16].…”

“…Less than half of the sample answered that sometimes they spent a lot of time on jobs others could do. A similar result was recorded in studies conducted by Weydt (2010), Kaernested & Bragadottir (2012), in which participants stated that they spent a lot of time on jobs others could do [31]- [16]. Almost all nurse managers responded 'always' for giving feedback to staff following delegation and making clear who is to do the delegation, reasons for performing the task, where to do the task, how to do the task, who is to do the task and when to do it.…”

“…There was no significant relationship between gender, marital status, staff mix, having a managerial certificate and having an assistant (p>0.05). Kaernested & Bragadottir (2012) similarly reported a relationship between age and delegation, that older nurses were more comfortable with delegation and less concerned that that they would be called 'lazy' [16]. This result is further supported by Standing&Anthony (2008), Berkow et al (2008), and Potter et al (2010), who confirmed that there is a relationship between delegation skills and experience among nurse mangers, suggesting that years of experience results in one improving and growing with practice over time [27]- [4]- [23].…”