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Related Experiment Videos

Nurses' Time Allocation and Multitasking of Nursing Activities: A Time Motion Study.

Po-Yin Yen1,2, Marjorie Kellye2, Marcelo Lopetegui3

  • 1Institute for Informatics, Department of Medicine, Division of General Medical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.

AMIA ... Annual Symposium Proceedings. AMIA Symposium
|March 1, 2019
PubMed
Summary

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Nurses spend most time on communication and charting, with hands-on tasks concentrated in the morning. Reallocating 10% of time from non-nursing tasks can improve patient care and efficiency.

Area of Science:

  • Nursing Practice
  • Healthcare Management
  • Time and Motion Studies

Background:

  • Increasing demands for patient-centered, efficient, and cost-effective care necessitate nurses working at the top of their professional license.
  • Optimizing nursing workflows is crucial for enhancing healthcare quality and outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To document nursing activities, including communication, hands-on tasks, and locations, using a time-motion study.
  • To compare nursing activity distribution across different time blocks within a shift.
  • To identify opportunities for nurses to work at the top of their license.

Main Methods:

  • A time-motion study was conducted to record nursing activities.
  • Data collected included communication, hands-on tasks, and activity locations.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Activities were analyzed across three time blocks: 7am-11am, 11am-3pm, and 3pm-7pm.

    • Main Results:

    • Nurses dedicated the majority of their time to patient communication and charting within the Electronic Health Record (EHR), primarily at the nursing station.
    • Hands-on patient care activities were most frequent and of longer duration during the early morning (7am-11am) time block.
    • Approximately 10% of nursing time was spent on delegable or non-nursing tasks, representing a potential area for workflow optimization.

    Conclusions:

    • Nursing workload and activity distribution are unevenly spread across a shift.
    • Re-evaluating nursing tasks and workflows can facilitate nurses working at the top of their license, improving care quality.
    • The study introduces a novel, quantifiable method for analyzing multidimensional nursing activities.