How do nurses use their time?

Abstract

Nurses spend an average of only 31% of their time with patients. The authors determined how nurses spend their time and suggest three ways to reduce time spent on non-essential nursing functions: delegation of some tasks to support personnel, greater use of pharmacy personnel in a decentralized setting, and greater use of computers. Together these changes may both decrease demand for nurses' time and enable professional nurses to focus their energy on tasks that require professional expertise.