Importance Of Nursing Workload

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Nursing Workload: A National Priority

Nursing Workload Concerns
The nursing profession has changed significantly over the years. In our fast-paced world of health care and technologically-advanced society, nurses are experiencing higher workloads than ever before. According to a survey done by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s ([AHRQ], 2012), more than 50% of nurses work in a crisis mode trying to do too much too quickly, and safety is sacrificed to get more work done.
In reviewing the literature on nursing workload definitions I found no definition that captures the complexity of nursing workload. Morris et al. defined workload as “the amount of performance required carrying out those nursing activities in a specified time period” (as cited in Neill, 2011, p. …show more content…

An overview of the literature highlights that there are a number of approaches to measure nursing workload. Studies show that nursing workload is not necessarily just nurse-patient ratios. Traditionally in the literature, job demands have been measured as amount of time it takes nurses to deliver care, patient acuity, and patient-to-nurse ratio.
For instance, Upenieks, Kotlerman, Akhavan, Esser, and Ngo (2007) report data collected from 40 medical-surgical and telemetry units in regards to the amount of time nurses spend in direct-patient care and indirect care activities. Evidence showed that nurses spend just about 30-55% of their time in direct care activities, while the remaining percentages they are involved in indirect activities (i.e. reviewing charts, care rounds, communication with family, etc). Therefore, a nurse’s workload as far as time spent carrying out nursing activities, consists of not only direct patient care factors, such as medication administration, but also indirect and non-patient care

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