Table 3 Analysis of the frequency and time spent on nursing activities (single task and multitasking).
From: Exploring nurses' multitasking in clinical settings using a multimethod study
Categories* | Total | Single | Multitasking | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | % | Duration | % | N | % | Duration | % | n | % | Duration | % | |
Nursing activities | 2,855 | 92.0 | 2,840.2 | 88.2 | 865 | 87.7 | 1,905.9 | 85.3 | 1,990 | 94.0 | 934.3 | 94.9 |
Monitoring and measurements | 489 | 15.8 | 320.8 | 10.0 | 163 | 16.5 | 144.2 | 6.5 | 326 | 15.4 | 176.6 | 17.9 |
Skincare | 7 | 0.2 | 5.4 | 0.2 | – | – | – | – | 7 | 0.3 | 5.4 | 0.5 |
Pain management | 16 | 0.5 | 15.7 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 15 | 0.7 | 15.4 | 1.6 |
Comfort/talk with the patient | 213 | 6.9 | 114.6 | 3.6 | 42 | 4.3 | 46.8 | 2.1 | 171 | 8.1 | 67.8 | 6.9 |
Teach/counsel patients and family | 34 | 1.1 | 12.8 | 0.4 | 6 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 28 | 1.3 | 10.4 | 1.1 |
Treatments and procedure | 107 | 3.4 | 129.3 | 4.0 | 36 | 3.7 | 86.9 | 3.9 | 71 | 3.4 | 42.4 | 4.3 |
Scheduled medication | 802 | 25.8 | 714.5 | 22.2 | 263 | 26.7 | 434.3 | 19.4 | 539 | 25.4 | 280.2 | 28.5 |
Prepare patients and families for discharge | 51 | 1.6 | 77.0 | 2.4 | 23 | 2.3 | 63.0 | 2.8 | 28 | 1.3 | 14.0 | 1.4 |
Documenting nursing care | 506 | 16.3 | 738.1 | 22.9 | 148 | 15.0 | 554.7 | 24.8 | 358 | 16.9 | 183.4 | 18.6 |
Develop or update care plans | 2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
Coordinate patient care | 502 | 16.2 | 183.6 | 5.7 | 117 | 11.9 | 70.8 | 3.2 | 385 | 18.2 | 112.8 | 11.5 |
Handover | 103 | 3.3 | 491.9 | 15.3 | 59 | 6.0 | 474.4 | 21.2 | 44 | 2.1 | 17.5 | 1.8 |
Admission or transfer | 2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
Other (organizing and storing patients’ personal belongings, searching for patients, etc.) | 21 | 0.7 | 35.3 | 1.1 | 7 | 0.7 | 28.1 | 1.3 | 14 | 0.7 | 7.1 | 0.7 |
Associated Work | 249 | 8.0 | 379.2 | 11.8 | 121 | 12.3 | 328.8 | 14.7 | 128 | 6.0 | 50.3 | 5.1 |
Delivering and retrieving food trays | 1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
Ordering, coordinating, or performing ancillary services | 1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
Routine blood sampling | 42 | 1.4 | 79.6 | 2.5 | 27 | 2.7 | 67.2 | 3.0 | 15 | 0.7 | 12.5 | 1.3 |
Transporting of patients | 2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
Housekeeping | 177 | 5.7 | 289.6 | 9.0 | 88 | 8.9 | 259.1 | 11.6 | 89 | 4.2 | 30.6 | 3.1 |
Search for a supply or equipment | 26 | 0.8 | 8.7 | 0.3 | 6 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 20 | 0.9 | 6.1 | 0.6 |
Total | 3,104 | 100 | 3,219.4 | 100 | 986 | 100 | 2,234.7 | 100 | 2,118 | 100 | 984.7 | 100 |
