A nurse working on a cardiac unit delegated taking vital signs to an experienced unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP).Four hours later,the nurse notes the client's blood pressure is much higher than previous readings,and the client's mental status has changed.What action by the nurse would most likely have prevented this negative outcome?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Supervision is one of the five rights of delegation and includes directing,evaluating,and following up on delegated tasks.The nurse should either have asked the UAP about the vital signs or instructed the UAP to report them right away.An experienced UAP should know how to take vital signs and the nurse should not have to assess this at this point.Double-checking the work defeats the purpose of delegation.Vital signs are within the scope of practice for a UAP and are permissible to delegate.The only appropriate answer is that the nurse did not provide adequate instruction to the UAP.

A Nurse Working on a Cardiac Unit Delegated Taking Vital