Improving patient care outcomes through better delegation-communication among nurses and assistive personnel

Abstract

<p>In acute care settings, registered nurses must depend on and delegate to unlicensed assistive personnel when providing direct care to patients. The nurses&rsquo; ability to effectively delegate can affect the safety and quality outcomes obtained by patients. For the health care industry and acute care settings to meet national patient safety outcomes registered nurses will need to evaluate their delegation methods for effectiveness in order to provide safe, patient-centered, and efficient care. In this single-group pretest-posttest study, nurses and unlicensed assistive personnel&rsquo;s (UAP) learning was measured following an intervention on delegation-communication techniques. Pre-intervention surveys were conducted with nurses and UAP&rsquo;s to establish preparedness to delegate, supervise, and use mindful communication. Pre-intervention analysis revealed a tendency for nurses to delay the decision to delegate. Post-intervention surveys measured delegation-communication learning within the domains of the pre-intervention survey topics. Of the twenty-two data points examined, four items showed significant learning improvement in the RN sample and two items in the UAP sample. Patient specific outcomes following the learning intervention revealed that hospital acquired pressure ulcers, stage II, decreased and Press-Ganey patient satisfaction, promptness to call button, improved.</p>