8.4.3 Student nurses and health care assistants: Delegation and supervisory skills (138)
Felicity Hasson, Senior Lecturer, Nursing, University of Ulster, Ireland Co authors: Hugh McKenna, Marlene Sinclair, Assumpta Ryan, Sinead Keeney, Ann Wakefield, Karen Spilsbury, & Frank Dobbs
Abstract:
Background:
Changing models of nursing care have resulted in the need for registered nurses to be competent in delegating, supervising and coordinating patient care. Registered nurses are responsible for delegation and supervision of unregistered health care assistants.
Aim:
This paper reports on undergraduate student nurses’ level of preparation when working with health care assistants (HCA). It is part of a large scale project, undertaken in 2005-2006, which investigated undergraduate student nurses’ level perceptions of the role of health care assistants and how this affects their clinical learning.
Methods:
A mixed method multi-strand sequential transformative research design was adopted, comprising of focus groups (n=32), interviews (n=13) and a questionnaire distributed to 650 pre-registration nursing students at one higher educational institution. Qualitative data were content analysed and quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (Version 11).
Results:
In general, while most students were familiar with the HCA role, participants believed that both clinical mentorship and class room education failed to prepare them to work alongside this grade of worker. Over 65% felt they lacked delegation and supervisory skills required for practice. This lack of preparation was perceived to be a hindrance to meeting the goals of clinical learning, to understanding the dynamics within the nursing hierarchy, to being accepted within the nursing team, and to the non-reporting of poor patient practice or training.
Discussion:
This study highlights that neither educational programmes nor clinical experience have prepared student nurses to function in delegation or supervision skills.
Conclusion:
The manner in which tasks are delegated will affect directly the quality and safety of patient care, it is therefore imperative that the nursing profession to provide student nurses with education necessary to develop delegation strategies and to adapt to their evolving professional role.
Recommended reading list:
- Harrison, S. (2007). Unison challenge NMC advice on accountability for delegated work. Nursing Standard 21(49), 5
- Storey, L. (2005). Delegation to health care assistants. Practice Nursing 16(6), 294-296
- Anthony, M. K, Standing, T S. & Herta, E, J. (2001). Nurses’ beliefs about their abilities to delegate within changing models of care. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing 32(5), 210-215
Source of Funding: UK - Research Charity/Foundation
Amount in Funding: 1,000 - 10,000
Biography:
Felicity Hasson is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Nursing Research at the University of Ulster. She is a member of a number of ethical committees and is a reviewer for a number of journals including Journal of Advanced Nursing, Nurse Education Today and Quality and Safety in Health Care. She has undertaken a number of research projects exploring the role and preparation of unqualified assistants (commonly referred to as healthcare assistants) in clinical and community settings. She is currently involved in doctoral research into the role and impact of the healthcare assistant upon nursing students’ clinical learning experience.