Delegation

Nursing Delegation in the School Setting

How is nursing delegation different from the delegation of other tasks in the school setting?

Delegation is not a foreign concept in the school setting. Teachers and administrators delegate on a daily basis; for example, a teacher may delegate reading support for a student to a teaching assistant. But nursing delegation is different.

Nursing delegation in the school setting is the assignment by the school nurse – not a school administrator – to a competent unlicensed individual (also called unlicensed assistive personnel [UAP]) the performance of a selected nursing task in a selected situation for an individual student. The school nurse facilitates the UAP training, evaluation of UAP competence, and provides for ongoing supervision of the UAP and evaluation of the student’s health outcomes. The nursing process can never be delegated. 

State Resources

Contact your State Board of Nursing and the Nurse Licensure Compact for state delegation guidelines.

NASN Resources

Recommended Qualifications for the Unlicensed Assistive Personnel

Sample Skills Checklist for Unlicensed Assistive Personnel Training

Principles for Practice – Nursing Delegation to Unlicensed Assistive Personnel in the School Setting 
This NASN publication provides an overview of nursing delegation in the school setting.  Note while the critical components of nursing delegation are defined by the nursing profession, implementation is bound to the legal parameters of nursing practice defined by each state.

National Association of School Nurses. (2018). The role of the 21st century school nurse (Position Statement). Silver Spring, MD: Author.

National Association of School Nurses (2019). School-sponsored trips - The role of the school nurse (Position Statement). Silver Spring, MD: Author.

Page updated September 2018.