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Cited by 376Nursing education and managementHealthcare Operations and Scheduling OptimizationNursing Roles and Practices

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 39 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

How much time do nurses have for patients? a longitudinal study quantifying hospital nurses' patterns of task time distribution and interactions with health professionals

Open access
Westbrook, Johanna I, Duffield, Christine, Li, Ling, Creswick, Nerida J·2011·BMC Health Services Research
DOI 10.1186/1472-6963-11-319PMC PMC3238335
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Time nurses spend with patients is associated with improved patient outcomes, reduced errors, and patient and nurse satisfaction. Few studies have measured how nurses distribute their time across tasks. We aimed to quantify how nurses distribute their time across tasks, with patients, in individual tasks, and engagement with other health care providers; and how work patterns changed over a two year period. METHODS: Prospective observational study of 57 nurses for 191.3 hours (109.8 hours in 2005/2006 and 81.5 in 2008), on two wards in a teaching hospital in Australia. The validated Work Observation Method by Activity Timing (WOMBAT) method was applied. Proportions of time in 10 categories of work, average time per task, time with patients and others, information tools used, and rates of interruptions and multi-tasking were calculated. RESULTS: Nurses spent 37.0%[95%CI: 34.5, 39.3] of their time with patients, which did not change in year 3 [35.7%; 95%CI: 33.3, 38.0]. Direct care, indirect care, medication tasks and professional communication together consumed 76.4% of nurses' time in year 1 and 81.0% in year 3. Time on direct and indirect care increased significantly (respectively 20.4% to 24.8%, P < 0.01;13.0% to 16.1%, P < 0.01). Proportion of time on medication tasks (19.0%) did not change. Time in professional communication declined (24.0% to 19.2%, P < 0.05). Nurses completed an average of 72.3 tasks per hour, with a mean task length of 55 seconds. Interruptions arose at an average rate of two per hour, but medication tasks incurred 27% of all interruptions. In 25% of medication tasks nurses multi-tasked. Between years 1 and 3 nurses spent more time alone, from 27.5%[95%CI 24.5, 30.6] to 39.4%[34.9, 43.9]. Time with health professionals other than nurses was low and did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses spent around 37% of their time with patients which did not change. Work patterns were increasingly fragmented with rapid changes between tasks of short length. Interruptions were modest but their substantial over-representation among medication tasks raises potential safety concerns. There was no evidence of an increase in team-based, multi-disciplinary care. Over time nurses spent significantly less time talking with colleagues and more time alone.

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Crossref · 10.1186/1472-6963-11-319

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Figures

Figure 1 Number and type of tasks completed by a nurse in an average hour by study year (Mean = 68.7 tasks/hour).
Figure 1 Number and type of tasks completed by a nurse in an average hour by study year (Mean = 68.7 tasks/hour).CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 Proportion of time spent on different tasks in year 3.
Figure 2 Proportion of time spent on different tasks in year 3.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3 Proportions of time spent in different tasks by nurse classification in Year 1 and Year 3.
Figure 3 Proportions of time spent in different tasks by nurse classification in Year 1 and Year 3.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 4 Average length of tasks by nurse classification in Year 1 and Year 3.
Figure 4 Average length of tasks by nurse classification in Year 1 and Year 3.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 5 Proportions of time spent on tasks by day and over time.
Figure 5 Proportions of time spent on tasks by day and over time.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Duffield C, Diers D, O'Brien-Pallas L, Aisbett C, Roche M, King M, Aisbett K: Nursing, the work environment and patient outcomes. App Nurs Res. 2011.
  2. Australian Institute for Health and Welfare: Health Expenditure Australia 2007-08. Health and Welfare Expenditure Series. 2009, Canberra: AIHW
  3. National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission: A healthier future for all Australians. 2009, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia

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Metadata

Authors
Westbrook, J. I., Duffield, C., Li, L., & Creswick, N. J.
Affiliations
  • UNSW Sydney (AU)
  • University of Technology Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
Westbrook, Johanna I
ORCID
Venue
BMC Health Services Research
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2011-11-24
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
319-319
ISSN
1472-6963 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1472-6963-11-319
PMC
PMC3238335
OpenAlex
W2091893465
Cited by
376
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 8
FWCI
32.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Health Services Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • UTS ePRESS (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • University of New South Wales
  • Medical Research Council
  • Australian Research Council
  • National Health and Medical Research Council
  • National Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Nursing education and management
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Healthcare Operations and Scheduling Optimization
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Nursing Roles and Practices
Keywords
nurse-patient interaction, interruptions, multitasking, medication administration, professional communication, wombats, patient safety, quality of care, nursing satisfaction, patient satisfaction, patient outcomes
MeSH terms
Australia, Hospitals, Teaching, Humans, Interprofessional Relations, Nurse-Patient Relations, Nursing Care, Nursing Staff, Hospital, Prospective Studies, Time and Motion Studies, Nursing Methodology Research, Workload, Practice Patterns, Nurses'

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