The nurse has just given a patient a narcotic for pain relief. Because the nurse must leave the unit for lunch and a 1-hour meeting, the task of evaluating the patient's response to the pain medica-tion must be delegated

Question

To whom should the nurse delegate this responsibility? a. Nursing assistant c. Licensed practical nurse
b. Student nurse d. Nurse manager

Answer 1

D
Evaluating the patient's response to pain medication is an activity within the scope of the regis-tered professional nurse (who in this situation is the nurse manager). Many states are very specific in their description of what cannot be delegated and belongs only to the nurse's scope of practice. The licensed practical nurse can administer the pain medication. The student nurse could assist the professional nurse in the evaluation of the patient's response to the pain medication; however, the nurse leaving the unit cannot delegate this responsibility to a student. This nursing intervention is outside the scope of practice of the nursing assistant.