Delegation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Delegation - Essay Example Knowledge and competence are criteria that allow decisions to be made at the appropriate level. This means that all members of staff must accept responsibility for achieving high-quality management and not leave that responsibility to the senior management team or middle managers. Healthcare organizations start to apply this concept into practice seeing it as a high level of specialist practice and competitive advantage in healthcare services. Today, a special attention is given to proper function of medical staff and empowerment which helps to improve efficiency of medical practices and introduce technological innovation more rapidly and effectively. Delegation is one of the most important management functions which help a person to handle a task over to another person. At the beginning of the 21st century, healthcare needs nurses able to cope with changing environment, technological challenges and culturally diverse clients. If nurses are able to exhibit strategic leadership that achieves a long-term focus, promotes development and application of core competences, emphasizes the development of human capital, develops an effective culture, and achieves strategic control simultaneously with the allowance of autonomy, restructuring efforts are more like to be successful. Delegation of responsibilities allows nurses to improve their performance and effectively manage daily tasks. Delegation is a skill o... It can be used either as an excuse for dumping failure onto the shoulders of subordinates, or as a dynamic tool for motivating and training your team to realize their full potential". A nursing position and role in healthcare has defined responsibilities or functions, together with the authority to carry them out. Nurses tend to have responsibilities for more work than they can possibly execute themselves. Another definition of delegation can be successfully applied to nursing profession: "delegation is the universally required ability to maintain responsibility yet relinquish authority" (The New Oxford American Dictionary 2001, p. 38). Most managers agree that decisions ought to be delegated to the lowest possible level where they can be made intelligently and where the relevant facts and required judgment are available. Often, in practice, they violate this rule by micromanaging or just telling their subordinates what to do. Or they make the mistake of dumping the decision without enough guidance or taking it back and doing it themselves. All of these mistakes have negative consequences (Blair, n.d.). The personality type of both the boss and the subordinate can have a profound effect on whether effective delegation takes place. Intuitive types may not explain all the details or responsibilities to the subordinate because they believe they have given a broad enough picture. Introverts may not fully communicate all the necessary information they have; their delegation will be patchy and inconsistent. Extroverts may wander with their thoughts and not be concise in their communications (Gulanick and Myers, 2006). Using these definitions, it is evident that delegation in nursing can be defined as the process when nurses give subordinates (usually