Prioritizing, Delegation, and Assignment

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CNA or Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP)

The role of Unlicensed Assistive Personnel in nursing care

  1. Take and document vital signs
  2. Do accucheks
  3. Apply OTCs ointments such A &D
  4. Help stable clients wiht ADLs, but not newly admitted clients
  5. Make sure 24 hour urine is kept on ice.
  6. Never teach. Not even how to use a thermometer! 

Key NCLEX points

  1. UAPs or CNAs cannot teach clients how to use the incentive spirometer, but they can remind clients to do it hourly.
  2. UAPs or CNAs cannot teach how to collect a 24 hour urine, but they can remind the client and help keep it on ice. 
  3. RNs can instruct UAPs to notify RN if  any of the vital signs are abnormal.

Let's make sure you understand what is the scope of practice of an Unlicensed Assistive Personnel. Do it until you get it 100% right.

  • Do not choose anything that says “Teaching, Instruction, or Evaluation”
  • Unlicensed Assistive Personnel do not notify providers of abnormal findings/vital signs. 
  • UAP’s cannot just silence an alarm. What if something is wrong with the patient?
  • UAP’s do not care for unstable patients. A patient that desaturates is unstable.