Snapshot survey shines a light on how hard nurses are working

Area of Science:

• Nursing Science
• Occupational Health
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Nursing involves significant physical activity and frequent hand hygiene.
• Understanding the scope of these activities is crucial for resource allocation and staff well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the physical and hygiene-related tasks performed by nurses.
• To provide data for optimizing nursing workflows and support.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted among nurses to gather data on weekly activities.
• Data collected included walking distances, calories burned, hand hygiene instances, and patient interactions.

Main Results:

• Nurses walk an average of 14 miles per 40-hour week.
• They burn approximately 1,044 calories weekly.
• Nurses apply disinfectant or antibacterial hand gel 107 times and hold 27 patients' hands weekly.

Conclusions:

• The findings underscore the physically demanding nature of nursing.
• Quantified data can inform strategies for nurse workload management and infection control protocols.