Delegating Medication Administration in Nursing

A nurse manager is evaluating the provision of care on a busy medical-surgical unit. The manager needs to determine how to best delegate tasks to the nursing staff to ensure safety and efficiency in patient care. One of the identified tasks requires assisting a patient with activities of daily living (ADLs), while another task involves administering medications that require special considerations for a specific diagnosis.

When considering delegation, the nurse manager must consider the competencies of the licensed practical nurses (LPNs) on the team, the regulatory guidelines surrounding delegation, and the potential for patient outcomes to be affected by the delegation of tasks.

Fill in the blank: When delegating tasks, the nurse manager should ensure that tasks that require complex critical thinking and assessment are not delegated to unlicensed personnel. Therefore, appropriately delegating the task of medication administration is critical because __________.