Nurse workload in implementing a tight glycaemic control protocol in a UK hospital: a pilot time-in-motion study

The cumulative time that critical care nurses spend implementing a tight glycaemic control (TGC) protocol was estimated in a time-in-motion (TiM) study conducted in a hospital in the UK.

TGC protocols were introduced to the critical care setting to reduce hyperglycaemic events in high-risk patients. The time burden to critical care nurses of implementing such protocols has not yet been studied in the UK.

A prospective TiM pilot study was conducted in an eligible UK intensive care unit by four protocol-trained observers over five consecutive weekdays from 3 to 7 November 2008. Three nurses were also interviewed on site to gather their attitudes and perceptions about the benefits of and time associated with administering a TGC protocol.

Independent observers shadowed nurses, observing when a blood glucose measurement was taken, when each predefined subtask was completed and the duration of each task. Semistructured interviews with nurses were conducted in-person and one-on-one by a trained study member.

Considered together, the episodic median duration of all TGC activities was 6·65 min. Across a total shift, nurses devoted approximately 7% of their time to administering a TGC protocol. Nurses perceived that a TGC protocol is beneficial to patient safety and outcomes in a critical care setting but acknowledged that the tasks can be mildly to moderately tedious.

This TiM analysis indicated that the additional responsibility of implementing a TGC protocol represents a substantive commitment of nursing time in a critical care setting.

The episodic data of our pilot study in the UK contributes further evidence that TGC protocols may be arduous to maintain and constitute a substantial investment of nursing time.