The nursing assessment decision grid: tool for delegation decision

The ability of registered nurses to delegate patient care to nurse extenders has become an important skill. This study measures the effectiveness of the Nursing Assessment Decision Grid to teach RNs delegation skills. The ability of 93 staff nurses to analyze tasks and problems found in two patient vignettes and then delegate some care to an LVN working in a dyad was measured before and after exposure to the Nursing Assessment Decision Grid. A paired sample t test was used to compare mean pretest and posttest scores for the three parameters. Analysis of variance was used to examine the effect of professional and personal experiences on this decision making ability. RNs showed a statistically significant increase in their ability to identify nursing tasks and patient problems embedded in two vignettes. They were then able to make delegation decisions about the care of the patients in the vignettes. Primary language of the study subject may have had an effect on the ability to perform patient problem analysis.