How does Florida differentiate delegation from assignment in nursing practice?

• A. Delegation involves only administrative tasks; assignment involves clinical tasks.
• B. Delegation transfers authority to perform a task to a competent UAP under supervision; assignment is allocating tasks to staff when the task does not require nursing judgment.
• C. Delegation is always permanent; assignment is temporary.
• D. Delegation and assignment are interchangeable terms.

Answer: (B)

The essential idea is the difference in authority and nursing judgment between delegation and assignment. In Florida, delegation means a licensed nurse transfers the authority to perform a nursing task to a competent unlicensed assistive person (UAP) under supervision. The delegating nurse remains accountable for patient safety and must ensure the task is appropriate for the UAP, within the UAP’s scope, and does not require professional nursing judgment. Assignment, by contrast, is simply distributing work to staff when the task does not require nursing judgment and does not involve transferring nursing authority.

So, a task can be assigned to a staff member if it’s routine and doesn’t require a nurse’s judgment, while delegation is about granting the power to perform a specific nursing task to a UAP, with supervision and accountability resting with the licensed nurse.