Understanding Delegation in Nursing Care

A nurse is responsible for ensuring that patient care is delivered safely and effectively on a medical-surgical unit. During a busy shift, the nurse delegates tasks to a nursing assistant (NA) to assist with patient care activities. One task that should be delegated is taking vital signs for stable patients. The nurse needs to remember the principle of proper delegation, which states that the nurse must ensure that the task is appropriate for the individual being delegated to.

Fill in the blank with the specific term that describes the process of giving appropriate tasks to others on the healthcare team: 'Delegation is the process of transferring __________ to a competent individual.'