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Difficulty: MediumAssignment, Delegation and Supervision

A multidisciplinary team is providing care on a specialized infectious disease unit. The registered nurse (RN) is planning task distribution for the upcoming shift. Which action is most appropriate to assign to the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP)?

  1. A
    Performing a comprehensive skin integrity check on a newly admitted client requiring strict bed rest
  2. B
    Instructing a client's visiting family members on the proper sequence for donning and doffing contact isolation gowns
  3. Applying a routine moisture barrier ointment to the intact perineal skin of a client following an incontinence episodeAnswer
  4. D
    Measuring the baseline vital signs for a client who is reporting a sudden onset of severe shortness of breath

Answer

Applying a routine moisture barrier ointment to the intact perineal skin of a client following an incontinence episode
The correct answer is applying a routine moisture barrier ointment to intact skin. This is considered a standard activity of daily living (hygiene/skin care) that does not require medication administration rights (as it is a non-medicated or over-the-counter routine barrier) or nursing judgment, provided the skin remains intact.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze each delegated task against the five rights of delegation and the UAP scope of practice.
Identify tasks that require nursing assessment, clinical judgment, or teaching.
The RN retains accountability for the delegation process and must not delegate the core components of the nursing process (EAT: Evaluation, Assessment, Teaching).
2
Evaluate the clinical stability of the clients described in the options.
Recognize that the client with sudden shortness of breath and the newly admitted client require RN-level critical thinking.
Tasks can only be delegated for stable clients with predictable outcomes.
3
Select the task that involves standard, unchanging basic care procedures.
Applying moisture barrier ointment to intact skin is identified as a safe hygiene intervention.
Routine ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) on intact skin carry low risk and are appropriate for UAP delegation.

Key Concept

Delegation of routine care tasks to Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP)
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Topics

Assignment, Delegation and Supervision

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