A Case Study Analysis of Delegation and Assigning Care to a Patient

When delegating and assigning care to a patient, it is essential to ensure that the nurse who has been tasked with the task of attending to them has the right attitude and proficiency to handle their complications. The breast cancer patient requires special attention, thus making it imperative for an experienced nurse to look after her.

            In the case of Sherry Trader and James Fair, the dimensions of power and conflict in the sense that the lead nurse uses her authoritative position to order an inexperienced personnel to attend to a patient. As such, a conflict arises between professionalism and obeying the directions of seniors.

            The problems presented in the case are mainly regarding the security of the patient. It is clear from the argument between Sherry and James that the latter is not confident that he is capable of offering quality care to the patient. For this reason, the well-being of the patient is not guaranteed.

            The major solution to the problem is cultivating a good working relationship between the lead and junior nurses. Secondly, the responsibilities of individual nurses should be outlined clearly for easy assignment of responsibilities (Mackoff, 2011). The proficiency of the junior nurses should be thoroughly assessed before they are assigned to various patients. It is also essential for professionals to improve the manner in which they communicate amongst themselves (Eggertson, 2012). Finally, the junior nurses should be given the freedom of expression to address their issues directly with their managers (Mackoff, 2011).

            The task of looking after the client should be assigned to nurses experienced in handling pre-surgery patients. Proper care and assessment before surgery by experienced personnel will facilitate the patient’s progression to operation.

            If the staff refuses to accept the delegated task, the Trader should assign the responsibility to another nurse and give an appropriate comment to the human resource department for reassessment of James’ abilities. The report will be used to recommend an appropriate remedial action that will be used to improve the performance of the nurse in future assignment.

References

Eggertson. L, (2012). On the Same Team? Nurse-Physician Communication. Volume 108      Number 5. Retrieved from     file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/NRSE_4580_M5_IM_On_The_Same_Team_Nurse-            Physician_Communication.pdf

Mackoff, B. (2011). Nurse manager engagement: Strategies for excellence and commitment.   Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.