Content area
Full Text
Delegation is not a mysterious art but a management function that can be learned and improved with practice. Elizabeth Curtis and Honor Nicholl outline six stages of effective delegation in the form of a step-by-step guide for novices and more experienced delegators, and describe some of the impediments to effective delegation
DELEGATION IS not a new function of professional nursing (Haas 1999) but it is becoming increasingly important as the profession experiences rapid change.
These changes concern the falling number of nurses (Hass 1999), issues around skill mix (del Bunco 1993), restructuring of how care is delivered (Marquis and Huston 2000) and the expanding role of nurses (Commission on Nursing 1998).
Registered nurses are increasingly expected to organise and supervise the work of other healthcare workers. Crucial to the success of this function is the ability to delegate routinely and effectively.
Several authors stress the importance of delegation and the ability to work through others effectively and efficiently (Kourdi 1999, Marquis and Huston 2000, Rocchiccioli and Tilbury 1998). But there is considerable variation in nurses' ability to delegate. Zimmerman (1996) suggests that a main reason for this is that many practising nurses trained at a time when delegation skills were not emphasised.
It is important therefore that nurses update their skills in delegation and continue to review carefully what tasks or projects are to be delegated.
The American Nurses Association (1995) defines delegation as: 'transferring responsibility for the performance of an activity ... while retaining accountability for the outcome'.
This indicates that delegation involves the transference of responsibility, authority and power to somebody to perform a task or project but that the delegator remains accountable for the task or project.
According to Maddux (1990) delegation is one of the most difficult tasks for managers or supervisors but, when executed correctly, it can benefit the delegator, the delegatee and ward or organisation (Nelson 1994).
Benefits for delegators
Effective delegation gives delegators more time for their other managerial activities, which enables them to focus on doing few tasks well rather than many tasks poorly (Kourdi 1999, Nelson 1994, Yukl 1998). Even if managers believe they can perform tasks better than delegatees, it is a more efficient use of managers' time to concentrate on these other managerial...