A charge nurse delegates to a licensed practical nurse (LPN) the task of changing a client's dressing. Several hours later the client reports the dressing has not been changed. Which of the following actions should the charge nurse take?

A. Report the issue to the unit manager. Escalating the situation to management is a premature action before investigating the underlying cause of the delegation failure. The charge nurse retains accountability for the supervision of delegated tasks and must first engage in direct problem-solving with the staff member. Professional conflict resolution and performance improvement should begin at the unit level between the involved parties. B. Reassign the task to another nurse. Simply transferring the task to a different clinician bypasses the opportunity for professional accountability and staff development. This approach fails to address why the original delegate did not complete the assignment, potentially allowing a pattern of negligence to persist. The charge nurse must ensure the original plan is followed or understand the barriers to its completion. C. Verify the LPN knows how to do a dressing change. Effective delegation requires the nurse to ensure the delegate possesses the necessary skills and competence to perform the task safely. If the LPN lacks the knowledge, the charge nurse must provide the appropriate training or supervision to ensure patient safety. This step identifies whether the failure was a result of a competency gap or a time-management issue. D. Change the client's dressing. Performing the task oneself resolves the immediate clinical need but undermines the delegation process and the charge nurse's leadership role. This "doing it yourself" mentality prevents the growth of the nursing team and fails to hold the LPN accountable for their assigned duties. The leader should focus on supervising the completion of the task by the appropriate staff.