Unnecessary Duplication, Essay Example

Unnecessary duplication typically occurs when a healthcare professional is not paying full attention to his or her work or does not thoroughly interview the patient to identify their current medications. This occurs frequently when working with patients who have cardiac problems. When medications are prescribed to these patients, it’s useful to prescribe them blood thinners and beta blockers. However, unnecessary duplication can occur because if one is not paying attention or is unaware of the patient’s medical history, it is possible to prescribe two beta blockers instead of just one to supplement the use of the blood thinner.

Underdelegation occurs primarily when there is not sufficient communication between healthcare staff. This occurs frequently in the nursing and healthcare field as a lack of documentation of the care that the patient has received in addition to oral communication between members of the team. A way to avoid this would be to establish a chain of command and define official ways that power will be transferred. Reverse delegation is also an issue of communication. It is important to establish which roles are leadership roles and the people have power and ability to give commands before practice. It is essential to remind everyone of the chain of command so this is not an issue in the future.

Overdelegation occurs typically when the delegator is under stress and requires people with less power to step up and take control of a situation. As long as boundaries aren’t overstepped, this is a useful way to compensate for employee shortages and ensure that the patient will be taken care of. However, when lower level employees have too much power, they may feel that they have the ability to delegate the chain of command in ways that were not intended by the individual who allowed them power. It is necessary for higher level employees to monitor these situations and define what is acceptable to prevent this from happening.

References

Delegation. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www52.homepage.villanova.edu/maureen.sullivan/coursematerial/L&M_Notes/Delegation.htm