Admission assessment assignment

Question

At 0200 an adult client arrives from the emergency department to a medical-surgical unit with new-onset atrial fibrillation and pending rate-control orders. The charge nurse is distributing work. Which assignment is appropriate?

1. AAssign the RN to complete the admission assessment and initiate the nursing care plan; have the LPN/VN later reinforce teaching the RN has already planned.✓ Correct

   Admission assessment and creating the care plan require RN-level nursing process work; LPN/VNs may reinforce education the RN planned.

2. BAssign the LPN/VN to perform the full admission assessment and write the initial nursing care plan independently.✗ Incorrect

   Admission assessments and independent creation of the nursing care plan are outside LPN/VN scope as described for non-delegable RN work.

3. CAssign unlicensed assistive personnel to complete the admission assessment while the RN finishes another client's discharge.✗ Incorrect

   UAP cannot perform assessments that require clinical judgment such as an admission assessment.

4. DDelay any assessment until morning shift because overnight admissions do not require nursing process documentation.✗ Incorrect

   A newly transferred client with a changing cardiac rhythm needs timely RN assessment; deferring is unsafe.

Answer

A. Assign the RN to complete the admission assessment and initiate the nursing care plan; have the LPN/VN later reinforce teaching the RN has already planned.

Rationale

Tasks that depend on the nursing process—admission assessment, original teaching, and building or evaluating a care plan—stay with the RN. An LPN/VN may later reinforce education the RN already outlined, which keeps assignment aligned with scope.