Management and Delegation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management and Delegation - Essay Example The researcher states that in one scenario, a nurse assigned leg ulcer dressing to a new staff nurse without evaluating the new nurse’s capability in wound dressings and associated skills.   What was good about the situation was that the staff nurse delegator was able to assign the task to a newly qualified nurse who had the rudimentary skill in dressing wounds. The wound was therefore properly cleaned and dressed without any errors and without any delays. The designation of the task eased the burden on the staff nurses who were already shorthanded and overworked. All in all, the risk of administration delays or even missed medications was reduced with the delegation of the task. In addition, the delegation also allowed the new nurse to improve on her skills. There were several unfavorable aspects of the approach to delegation applied by the staff nurse. For one, the nurse-delegator did not ascertain first whether the delegatee had sufficient knowledge and skills in carrying out the task. It is important for the delegator to first establish the skills of the delegatee before any task is assigned in order to prevent any medical errors and prevent any patient risks. The staff nurse was just fortunate that the delegatee happened to be knowledgeable and to be relatively skilled in leg ulcers wound dressing. Nevertheless, the staff nurse took a major risk in assigning the task to a delegatee before doing a preliminary assessment of the delegatee’s skills and knowledge. Moreover, simply assigning the task without waiting for the delegatee’s agreement is tantamount to an authoritarian leadership, one which often results in unfair outcomes for the delegatee. The manner of delegation could have been improved by the delegator by first assessing the delegatee’s knowledge and skill in leg ulcer wound dressings, and then waiting for the latter’s agreement. The delegator could also have stayed to supervise the delegatee’s wound dre ssing in order to ensure that the delegates knew what she was doing and to prevent errors during the procedure. The situation could definitely have been handled better. The delegator could have made the proper assessment of the delegatee first before any task was delegated and the delegatee’s permission could have been sought before the task was delegated. The delegator also could have supervised the procedure before leaving the delegatee to carry out the task. Management includes various processes and personnel within the health care profession as it helps achieve improved patient outcomes. Different styles of management may also be applied by the health professionals in order to ensure such outcomes. These styles of management are based on specific skills and job descriptions for the health professionals and through the coordinated working of these professionals, efficient patient care can be ensured. Management is important because it provides an orderly, systematic, and e vidence-based process in ensuring the efficient intervention of any issue or problem.