After reading Chapters 19 and 20, please read the following scenario and respond to the questions with rationale from the textbook and/or other readings or references. This Discussion Board assignment is required for all students. It does have to be in APA format with at least 2 references (within 5 years)in APA format. Your response needs to be 200-300 words in length. The 7 PM to 7 AM RN who usually works on the Adult Medical/Surgical unit is told to report to the Labor and Delivery (L&D) unit as it is his/her turn to float to another unit. The RN has not taken care of a patient in labor since nursing school 5 years ago. The unit supervisor on the L&D unit has assigned this RN to 2 patients in active labor. The floating RN states he or she is uncomfortable in this situation since it has been 5 years in caring for this type of patient. The unit supervisor says, “Don’t worry – you just need good basic nursing assessment and nursing skills.” Respond to the question: Should the RN take the assignment? If your answer is “yes”: State the rationale using support from the textbook or other references. If you have additional questions for the RN or the supervisor, please include those in your response. If the answer is “no”: State the rationale using support from the textbook or other references. Give an alternative action in your response.
Discussion
The American Nurses Association highlights that professionally; nurses should know their rights and responsibilities when considering an assignment. If a nurse feels that they lack expertise in managing patients of a specific population or unit, the nurse is obligated to decline the assignment (American Nurses Association, n.d.). To know what decisions to make in which scenarios, nurses should familiarize with their state Nursing Practice Act or workplace hospital policy, which often highlight these circumstances.
In this case scenario, the author would decline the assignment. In practice, an assignment to an area that a practicing nurse is unfamiliar with and ordered to perform a task that the nurse may be unfamiliar with is likely to occur. In most cases, it can be because of a low staff: patient ratio or as a result of the rotational shifts of nurses from one department to another. For instance, in this case scenario, the nurse has never cared for patients in active labor and the in charge nurse assigns her to care for two patients who are in the active phase of labor. Although declining the assignment can amount to patient abandonment charges if anything wrong occurs, accepting the assignment is equally a threat to the patient’s and nurse’s wellbeing.
The nurse admits that she has never handled a patient in the active phase of labor since 5 years ago. This therefore implies that, she is convinced she lacks adequate practice and knowledge caring for this patient population, which can otherwise compromise the safety and overall well-being of the patients with both legal, financial, and professional implications to her and the hospital. When declining the assignment, Barrow & Sharma (2018) suggest that, a nurse should try to negotiate with the supervisor and demonstrate that, despite her willingness to care for the assigned patients, she has never worked with mothers in the active phase of labor. Therefore, she cannot be in charge.
References
American Nurses Association (n.d.). Questions to Ask in Making the Decision to Accept a Staffing Assignment for Nurses. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nurse-staffing/questions-to-ask-in-making-the-decision-to-accept-a-staffing-assignment-for-nurses/
Barrow, J. M., & Sharma, S. (2018). Five rights of nursing delegation.