Hidden Costs of Workflow Challenges in Endoscopy Units: Insights from a Multinational Survey

Background The daily work of endoscopy nurses involves a variety of tasks, both within and outside the endoscopy department. A better understanding of their workload can reveal opportunities for improving cost efficiency. Methods A cross-sectional, international, 23-question anonymous online survey was administered in various languages via nursing associations to nurses in endoscopy departments in 33 countries. Results Responses from 456 nurses specializing in gastrointestinal and pulmonary endoscopy were included in the analysis. The majority of respondents worked in large centers that perform a high volume of procedures and had many years of experience working in endoscopy. The tasks that nurses frequently performed included endoscope reprocessing (full cycle: 51%; on-call: 72%), and moving the endoscopy tower (daily: 23%; weekly: 43%; monthly: 20%; rarely/never: 14%). Over half (51%) of the nurses reported that patients were transported from other departments to the endoscopy unit on a weekly basis, with 21% reporting daily movement and 23% monthly. Delays in patient procedures due to a lack of available endoscopes were observed daily, weekly, or monthly by 62% of the respondents. The advantages of using disposable endoscopes cited by respondents included increased patient safety ( n = 306; 67%), availability ( n = 285; 63%), and increased staff safety ( n = 232; 51%). Conclusion The evaluated survey revealed potential starting points for achieving efficiency improvements and cost savings. Of particular interest is reducing the time nursing staff spend on nonclinical tasks.