As a leader in your nursing department, you must review the registered nurse practice act for the state in which you work—the guideline for each nurse who works in that state.
Part 1:
Locate your own state’s nurse practice act, and summarize it.
In your own words, post what the act says about the nurses\’ responsibility when delegating care to unlicensed assistive personnel.
What does the delegation language mean to you in regard to your own delegation of care to unlicensed assistive personnel?
Part 2:
Describe a change that recently occurred in your workplace.
What resources were used to implement the change?
How did the staff react?
From your perspective, what steps could the leadership team have taken to better implement the change?
(for reference I am an operating Room nurse in CA)
Unit 3 Discussion Board
Part 1
The California Board of Registered Nursing published the Nursing Practice Act (NPA) to govern the practice of registered nurses authorized to practice within the state. It is a compilation of laws and rules that registered nurses are expected to comply with during practice (California Board of Registered Nursing, 2022). The California Nursing Practice Act contains Articles that are critically described under the ‘California Business and Professions Code’ and the ‘California Code of Regulations.’ It clearly outlines the Scope of Practice for registered nurses including the advanced practice registered nurses such as Nurse Midwives, Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Practitioners, and Clinical Nurse Specialists (California Board of Registered Nursing, 2022). Operating room nurses, like other nurses, must adhere to the laws and rules outlined in the Act.
Section 2725.3 of the California Nursing Practice Act outlines the functions of unlicensed assistive personnel and the nurse’s responsibility when delegating care to these professionals. Under this section, a healthcare organization is prohibited from assigning unlicensed assistive personnel the nursing functions that are meant to be performed by a registered nurse. The Act further indicates that a registered nurse cannot delegate complex nursing functions that require a significant amount of technical skills and scientific knowledge to unlicensed assistive personnel (California Board of Registered Nursing, 2022). As an operating room nurse authorized to practice in California, the delegation language, to me, means that I cannot delegate complex nursing procedures to unlicensed assistive personnel in the operating room.
Part 2
A change that recently occurred in the workplace concerns the installation of an Operating Room (OR) black box to enhance patient safety in the operating room. Both human and non-human resources were used to implement the change. Members of staff were positive about the change citing the tool’s effectiveness in improving patient safety in the operating room. From my perspective, the leadership team could have asked employees to provide feedback regarding the tool’s performance post-implementation.
Reference
California Board of Registered Nursing. (2022). Nursing Practice Act. https://www.rn.ca.gov/practice/npa.shtml