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The reality of nursing time: how nurses spend their shifts
Alex Walsby1, Sharon Williams2, John Gammon2
1Head of Nursing, Hywel Dda University Health Board.
Background:
Nurse staffing levels are increasingly challenged while pressures on healthcare systems are rising. There is a clear need to optimise efficiency in healthcare delivery in order to deliver safe, effective and quality health care.
Aim:
To understand how nurses working shifts spend their time and explore opportunities to improve efficiency in care delivery.
Method:
A time-motion study was conducted on three acute care wards in a district general hospital in West Wales; 13 nurses were observed over 14 shifts, each activity undertaken was recorded in real time.
Findings:
In all, 109 hours were observed. Approximately half of nurses' time is spent delivering direct patient care, with medications administration taking the majority of time.
Conclusion:
A number of recommendations are made involving processes and workforce modelling with the aim of improving efficiency and safety. Further research would be required to assess the impact of their introduction.
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