About This Course

This course was created by an experienced Nurse Practitioner to teach caregivers the skills they need to provide excellent care in home settings. The goal is to help you give better care to your patients, keep everyone safe, build your confidence through hands-on training, and make sure you know exactly what to do in your job. When you complete this certification, you'll be fully prepared to handle the nursing tasks that a registered nurse (RN) assigns to you, and you'll know how to do them safely and correctly.

What is Delegation?

Delegation happens when a registered nurse (RN) assigns certain nursing tasks to you—even though you're not a nurse yourself. The RN will look at how complicated the task is, what skills you have, and what the patient needs before deciding to give you that responsibility.

For example, an RN might ask you to give a patient their daily pills after:

• Watching you practice and making sure you can do it correctly
• Teaching you about that specific patient's medications
• Explaining the correct steps to follow and what side effects to watch for

It's important to know that the RN is still legally responsible for deciding to let you do the task, and they must check on your work regularly. When you accept these delegated tasks and do them safely, you're able to help your patients more while working under the RN's guidance.

Your Role as a Caregiver

As a caregiver who accepts delegated tasks, you need to understand how delegation works so you can give great care and help your patients stay healthy. Good delegation means:

• Having clear conversations with the RN who supervises you
• Following the rules and procedures you've been taught
• Writing down (documenting) what you do for each patient

When an RN delegates a task to you, you must:

• Understand exactly what you're supposed to do
• Know when to call the RN if something changes or worries you
• Recognize what tasks are safe for you to do and which ones are beyond your training

The RN will train you at the beginning, test your skills to make sure you can do the task, and continue to supervise your work. Remember: when you accept delegation, you're doing nursing tasks under the RN's license and supervision. You're part of a healthcare team working together to keep patients safe and healthy.

Through this course, you'll learn everything you need to become a confident, skilled caregiver who is ready to handle the nursing tasks assigned to you.