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How do physicians and nurses spend their time in the emergency department?
J C Hollingsworth1, C D Chisholm, B K Giles
1Summer Research Program, Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Annals of Emergency Medicine
|January 23, 1998
Summary
Emergency physicians and nurses dedicate nearly half their time to indirect patient care. Physicians spend more time on indirect care and less on personal activities compared to nurses.
Area of Science:
- Emergency Medicine
- Healthcare Operations
- Workforce Analysis
Background:
- Understanding time allocation in emergency departments (EDs) is crucial for optimizing healthcare delivery.
- Previous studies have not fully delineated the specific activities of physicians and nurses in busy urban EDs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the time emergency physicians and nurses spend on various activities within the emergency department.
- To identify differences in time allocation between faculty physicians, resident physicians, and emergency nurses.
Main Methods:
- An observational time-and-motion study was conducted in a high-volume urban teaching hospital ED.
- Data were collected on direct patient care, indirect patient care, and non-patient care activities over 180-minute observation periods.
- Participants included faculty physicians, resident physicians, and emergency nurses.
Main Results:
- On average, healthcare providers spent 32% of their time on direct patient care, 47% on indirect patient care, and 21% on non-patient care.
- Emergency nurses dedicated more time to comfort measures than physicians.
- Physicians spent more time on indirect care (faculty 51.3%, residents 53.7%) than nurses (38.9%), with residents spending the most time charting (21.4%).
Conclusions:
- Emergency physicians and nurses allocate a substantial portion of their workday to indirect patient care activities.
- Significant differences exist in how physicians and nurses manage their time, particularly concerning indirect care and personal activities.