A Current State Assessment on Nursing Work Activities: An Observational Study

Background: Nationwide nursing shortages have led to higher patient-to-nurse ratios, nursing burnout, and decreased quality of care.

Local problem: Staffing challenges and nursing burnout were becoming growing concerns and success was contingent upon efficient use of existing resources.

Methods: Direct observation current state assessment was completed on medical-surgical specialty units to better understand work activities of registered nurses (RNs) and unlicensed assistive personnel (UAPs).

Results: RNs spent more time performing indirect care (eg, documentation) than direct patient care. Interruptions and problems consumed 17.4% and 5.6% of their time, respectively. UAPs performed more direct patient care but had a higher proportion of downtime. RNs underdelegated nonclinical tasks.

Conclusions: Direct observation current state assessment offers a better understanding of workflow and workload inefficiencies. This information is critical to provide informed, evidence-based recommendations to develop future patient care models with more capacity to deliver high-quality care with greater efficiency and lessen nursing burden and burnout during the nursing shortage crisis.