Delegation is the use of personnel to accomplish a desired objective through the application of authority and

responsibility.
It can also be defined as the assignment of authority and responsibility to another person to carry out
specific duties, although the person who delegates the work remains accountable for the outcome of the
delegated work.
Delegation provides a means for increasing productivity and it empowers the subordinate to make
decisions.
Delegation is one of the core concepts of management.
there are about five rights to delegation from the perspective of both nursing service and administration and
the nurse officer. These include:
1. right task: in this case the nurse administrator determines what she delegates by defining the task or
responsibility.
2.the right circumstance.
3. the right person: here the right individual is chosen for delegation of task by matching skills and attitude
to the task.
4. right direction/communication: at this point, the nurse administrator or manager clarifies the desire result
to enable the subordinate or the nurse officer use his/her creativity and resources to accomplish the task.
At the same time, the nurse manager clearly defines the nurse officer’s responsibility and authority as it
relates to the delegated task.
5. right supervision/evaluation: in this the nurse officer establishes a follow up meeting to monitor progress
and need for assistance.
Based on the above, the delegation process are:
- define the task
-decide on the delegate
-determine the task
-reach an agreement
-monitor performance
- provide feedback
STRATEGIES OF EFFECTIVE DELEGATION
1. plan ahead: preparation has to be done for effective delegation
2. identify necessary skills and levels
3.select most capable personnel
4. Communicate goals clearly
5.the delegate must be empowered
6. there has to be a deadline and the progress monitored
7. modelling role by providing guidance
8. performance evaluation
9. reward accomplishment
BENEFITS OF DELEGATION
- makes work easier
-improves efficiency
-increases the nurse officers effectiveness
-develops the individual
-ensures that the right individuals do the right jobs
-builds trust with the organisation
BARRIERS TO DELEGATION
The following are the barriers to delegation
- the belief that “I can do it better myself” resulting in
- lack of confidence and trust in subordinate
- inadequate training
-vague job description
-reluctance to take risk involve in depending on others
-fear of loss of power
-failure of the delegator to see the surbodinates perspective
-subordinate resistance to delegation
-time involved in explaining task
-low self confidence and insecurity
ELEMENTS OF DELEGATION
There are three elements of delegation
-Responsibility
-Authority
-Accountability

DECISION MAKING THEORIES

Decision making is the process of selecting the best alternative from the available set of alternatives.
According to Herbert simon(spring 2007), Decision making involves three activities;
1. intelligence activity: this consist of finding,identifying,and formulating the problem that calls for
decision making I.e deciding what to decide.
2. designing activity: this has to do with developing alternatives,stating the objectives for the decision to be
made.
3. choice activity: evaluate the activities in the design phase and choose one of them. At the end,decisions
are carried out leading to the implementation stage.
SEVEN(7) STEPS MODEL
- establish objectives
-classify and prioritise objectives
-develop alternative actions
-eveluate alternatives against objectives
-tentative decision to most appropriate alternative
-evaluation of tentative decision for more consequences
-decisive actions taken and additional actions taken to prevent consequences
MODELS OF DECISION MAKING

RATIONAL MODEL

1. identify the problem

2.generating alternative solutions
3. selecting a solution
4. implementing and evaluating solution
In this model, there are techniques and they are:
-SWOT ANALYSIS(strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) it is used to understand your strength
and weaknesses and used to identifying both opportunities open to you and the threats you face.
- Pareto Analysis: this is the use of statistical techniques to select limited number of task that produce
overall effect.
-Decision Tree: this is a decision support tool that uses a tree-like graph of decisions and their possible
consequences.
- Management by Objectives(MBO): which aims to improve performance of an organisation by clearly
defining the objectives that are agreed by both management and employees.
-Program Evaluation and Review Technique
2. SIMON’S NORMATIVE MODEL
In Simon’s normative, It is believed that decision making is not rational.
This model states that decision making is characterised by
-limited information processing
-use of rules of thumbs or shortcuts
-satisfying
2. THE GROUP DECISION MODEL
here it is believed that
-groups can accumulate more knowledge and facts
-groups have a broader perspective and consider more alternative solution
- individuals who participate in decision making are more satisfied with the decision and are more likely to
support it.\
4. CLINICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL
according to Manning(2007), there are three clinical decision making models:
- informative processing model which uses a scientific hypothetical, deductive quantitative approach
- intuitive humanistic model that focuses on intuition and how the knowledge gained from nursing
experiences enriches the clinical decision making process.
- O’Neil’s clinical decision model that uses both hypothetical deductive and pattern recognition.
From these views, it is said that decision models offer analytical tools which can be combined to provide
useful insights. Also that in the real settings, most of our decisions are made unconciously in our minds.
Other models of decision making include:
-Classical model: where when a manager is confronted with a certain decision making situation,the
manager would collect all the critical information and the information collected is required for performing a
particular activity and also take decision for the betterment of the organsations.
-The Administrative model:
here the manager has more concern for himself
-sometimes decisions made or taken may not be in the best interest of the organisation but fulfills his/her
personal desires due to inadequate collection of data or information.
- expediency and opportunism are the hallmark of this model.

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
this is the process of helping organisations improve through change in policies, power leadership, control,
or job design to achieve results.
In other words, organisation development(OD) will help to improve effectiveness, achieve goals and build
capacity.
Through organisation development, challenges are managed to produce an effective organisational culture.
The aim of OD in healthcare is to provide excellence with a capacity to respond to change flexibly, also
with a working environment where staff can deliver their best for the benefit of our patients and others.
OD is also aimed at encouraging leaders at all levels to develop leadership skills in their staff and
themselves. Its focus is on compassionate, collaborative and inclusive leadership. It is an effort that is:
planned
organisation wide
managed from top to bottom
increase organisational effectiveness and health.
ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODEL
there are models in organisational development . These models appraises the organisational ability to work
as a team and to fit its needs of its members. The model focuses on the
-Supervisory behaviour manifesting interest and concern for workers
-Team spirit, group loyalty and team work among workers and between workers and management
-confidence, trust and communication among workers and between workers and management
-more freedom to set their own objectives
the model procedures attempts to answer questions that has to do with
a. diagnosis
b. setting of goals and plans
c. implementation of goals
d. evaluation
in this model beliefs, attitudes, values, and organisational structure are changed so that individuals can
better adapt to new technologies and challenges.
It is a process of management by objective.
THE STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL MODEL
According to this model, all systems need maintenance and continuity.
The following aspects define this and they are:
- security of the organisation in relation to the social forces in the environment
- stability of informal relations within the organisation
- continuity of policy making
- homogenuity of outlook
the crucial question to be answered in this model is how well does the organisation’s activities serve the
needs of the group.

SYSTEM APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT

system approach to management
this approach has it that in any organisation, there is an organic and open system which is comprised of
interacting and interdependent parts known as subsystem.
In other words,a system is an organised whole made up of subsystems and integrated into one.
IMPORTANCE OF SYSTEM APPROACH
- it is an interdisciplinarian approach
- it ensures quality care when applied to nursing management and administration because it systematically
integrates all functions into an interrelated team effort.
- it enhances productivity
- it improves workflow
- it provides feedback such as assessment of work done, identifies deviations and corrective actions for
better accomplishment.
In system approach, personnel work as a combined unit.
It is efficient, provides an orderly plan of action. Personnel have orderly defined responsibilities which
overlap and interlock, so that the absence of one member does not result in loss of productivity.
Generally speaking, the system approach improves strategic and management decision making due to the
interralationships between the various systems.
LIMITATIONS OF THE SYSTEM APPROACH
- it tends to be rigid and reacts slowly in the open system that interact in the open environment
-it does not adequately specify the interdependence and nature of interaction between an organisationand its
environment.
- it does not provide uniform approach to management
- it fails to provide concepts that apply to all types of organisation.