Nursing Practice Questions

Question: When the RN follows the guidelines, provides training, supervision and monitoring and uses the decision tree and the person she delegated the task to makes a significant mistake, is it the RN license on the line? Or is it the person who accepted the responsibility of the delegated task accountable? I say the later, but others are disagreeing with me.
Answer:  The actor (CNA or UAP) is responsible for her own conduct. This becomes a performance issue that the employer must address.  The employer is usually responsible through Respondeat Superior and because they have the deep pockets. The nurse could be involved if there was a lack of supervision, inadequate training or some violation of the employers rules. But generally the nurse's license is not at risk unless she commits a failure.

Question: I do not have a deep understanding of wage and hour laws, but while discussing the fact that in delegation the RN supervises the task that she delegated, one of the nurses with whom I was speaking states "that under wage and hour law if the RN supervises anything, she is considered a supervisor and subject to those regulations. " Do you know if that is true?
Answer:  Wages and hours-supervisor usually refers to the issue of whether the person acts for management, not whether they are in charge of a particular task.