Time Spent by Nurses on Non-Nursing Activities in Medical-Surgical Units of a Tertiary Hospital

Nirmala Margaret Emmanuel; Premila Lee

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.59952

Time Spent by Nurses on Non-Nursing Activities in Medical-Surgical Units of a Tertiary Hospital

Author(s)	Nirmala Margaret Emmanuel, Premila Lee
Country	India
Abstract	Background: Nurses’ time allocation is a critical determinant of patient care quality, workforce efficiency, and job satisfaction. While much research has focused on direct and indirect care, less attention has been devoted to the portion of working time spent on non-nursing activities (i.e., tasks not directly related to nursing care) in medical–surgical wards. Objective: To assess the spent by nurses on non-nursing activities in medical–surgical units of a tertiary hospital Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed at a tertiary hospital medical–surgical setting. Demographic data were collected among 197 nurses. The prevalence of selected non-nursing activities (staff development, patient transportation, prayer, coordinating/maintenance work, general reporting, administrative work, attending phone calls and patient enquiries) was captured and expressed as percentages of time devoted to each activity. Results: Among 197 nurses, 40.61% were aged ≤30 years, females comprised 92.38%, 76.65% were GNM (General Nurse Midwife), and majority had ≥10 years (39.09%) of experience. Among the time spent on non-nursing activities, on average, nurses spent 34.89% of their time attending phone calls and patient enquiries, 25.29% on administrative work, 13.23% on general reporting, 12.33% on coordinating/maintenance work, 7.89% on prayer, 3.96% on patient transportation, and 2.73% on staff development. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of nursing time is devoted to non-nursing activities, particularly phone calls/patient enquiries and administrative work, reducing the opportunity for direct patient care. Nursing management should examine strategies to reduce non-nursing workload, delegate or redesign tasks, and optimise nurse time toward patient-centred activities. Further research is recommended to explore causes, consequences and interventions.
Keywords	Nursing time allocation; non-nursing activities; medical–surgical nursing; tertiary hospital; workload
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-31
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.59952

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Time Spent by Nurses on Non-Nursing Activities in Medical-Surgical Units of a Tertiary Hospital

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