Delegation is best defined as:

• A. The Assignment of New or Additional Responsibilities to a Subordinate
• B. The Distribution of Work to Each Staff Member
• C. The Handoff of Care to the Patient’s Family
• D. The Creation of a Detailed Care Plan

Answer: (A)

Delegation is about transferring responsibility for performing a task to another team member while you remain accountable for the outcome. The option that fits best describes this transfer of responsibility to a subordinate, which is the essence of delegation in nursing leadership.

This means you can assign someone else to handle a new or additional duty, provided they have the competence and appropriate authority to do it, and you still oversee the results and ensure patient safety and policy compliance. It isn’t just about spreading out work across staff, which is more about workload distribution without specifying task responsibility or accountability. It isn’t handing care off to a family member, which is about family involvement rather than delegating professional tasks. Nor is it creating a detailed care plan, which is a planning activity, not delegation.

For example, a nurse in charge may delegate the administration of routine wound care to an LPN after confirming competency, while remaining responsible for the patient’s overall care outcomes.