Which delegation task should an RN take over for a patient with a gastrostomy?

In the context of delegation to other nursing staff or healthcare team members, it is essential to recognize the complexities of patient assessment, particularly when it involves evaluating nutritional status. The task of assessing a patient's overall nutritional status requires a registered nurse's expertise and clinical judgment. This includes understanding the patient's medical history, current health condition, dietary needs, and the effects of enteral feeding on their nutrition.

Assessing nutritional status involves gathering and interpreting various data such as the patient's weight, laboratory values, and signs of malnutrition, as well as making recommendations for nutritional interventions. This level of critical thinking and clinical evaluation is typically outside the scope of practice for unlicensed personnel or nursing assistants, making it a responsibility that should remain with the registered nurse.

In contrast, programming an enteral feeding pump, caring for the stoma around the gastrostomy tube, and providing wound care for the surrounding area could generally be delegated to other nursing staff or trained personnel, as these tasks do not require the same depth of nursing judgment or assessment skills. While each of these tasks is important for the patient's care, they are more routine and can be effectively managed by those with lesser qualifications than a registered nurse.