In delegation, what tasks can be appropriately assigned to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP), and what requires RN supervision?

• A. Requires RN supervision for tasks like bathing, feeding, ADLs; allows UAP to perform assessments
• B. Can assign routine tasks that do not require professional judgment (e.g., bathing, feeding, ADLs); requires RN supervision for assessment, nursing judgments, and tasks involving medications or complex decisions.
• C. UAPs can prescribe medications
• D. RN can perform all tasks without supervision

Answer: (B)

Delegation is about assigning tasks to the person whose scope of practice and training fit the task. Unlicensed assistive personnel are trained to perform routine, stable activities that don’t require professional nursing judgment. So they can handle bathing, feeding, and other activities of daily living, as part of routine care. The nurse, however, must retain responsibility for the clinical side: assessing the patient, recognizing changes in condition, making nursing judgments, planning and evaluating care, and handling tasks that involve medications or more complex decisions. Medications, IVs, wound care that requires assessment, and anything with potential safety risk require RN supervision and instruction.

That’s why the option describing routine tasks for UAP and RN supervision for assessment, nursing judgments, and meds or complex decisions best fits safe, legal delegation. Options proposing UAP prescribing medications, or RN performing all tasks without supervision, don’t align with typical scope of practice and delegation rules.