How saving nurses time could lead to better care
Nurses play a fundamental role in patient care, particularly in hospitals.
Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of nursing care is essential to hospital function and the delivery of safe patient care. And yet, more than one-third of nurses spend at least an hour finding items of equipment during an average hospital shift, according to a survey by Nursing Times1.
The findings suggest that nurses could spend the equivalent of 40 hours per month searching for equipment. In the majority of cases, nurses were looking for devices or consumables. Among the most sought items were thermometers and plastic caps for thermometers.
Another study showed that 35.3% of nurses time is spent on documentation and a further 17.2% on medication administration2. In fact, research shows they only spend 37% of their time with patients3.
How to Improve Efficiencies in Healthcare
Just 5 minutes saved per shift, could save the NHS £280 million a year according to the UK government4.
The money saved could be used towards improved patient care in the form of more nurses or better equipment for hospitals.
One way for hospitals to save time is to adopt innovative devices that are designed to improve workflow efficiencies for nurses and other healthcare professionals.
And yet in many hospitals nurses are still using contact thermometers such as the tympanic or axilla thermometer.
Both of these methods require a plastic probe cover to be changed at every reading. Nurses spend several minutes per temperature reading, locating, attaching, and disposing of these probe covers. As temperatures are taken on every patient approximately every 4-6 hours, these methods can become very time consuming across the duration of a shift. Additionally, axilla thermometers need left in place for around 5 minutes to obtain an accurate reading.
Nurses complete an average of 72.3 tasks per hour, changing thermometer probe covers shouldn’t be one of them5.
The TRITEMP™ non-contact thermometer is designed with nurses in mind. The medically graded non-contact thermometer, which is CE marked for quality, provides an accurate core body temperature measurement in just seconds – without the need to use plastic consumables.
When compared with contact thermometers, the time savings are clear. Accurate readings in just a second.
Benefits of Time Saving for Nurses
Improving workflow efficiencies for nurses allows them time to do what they do best – care.
61% of nursing staff say they are too busy to provide the level of care to patients that they would like, a significant increase from 43 per cent 10 years ago6 .
Reduced stress is another beneficial product of healthcare workers having more time to care. In 2019 44% of registered nurses and midwives said they had felt unwell due to stress7.
Additionally, with TRITEMP™, the nurse doesn’t have to disturb the patient or waken them to take a temperature, minimizing distress for both the patient and the nurse.
Helpful ways nurses can save time ?
One way nurses can save time is to adopt innovative devices that are designed to improve workflow efficiencies for nurses and other healthcare professionals, such as the TRITEMP™ medical grade non-contact thermometer.
How much time do nurses spend taking patient temperature?
Temperatures are taken approximately every 4-6 hours in hospitals. Contact thermometers such as tympanics, require nurses to source, change and dispose of a plastic probe cover at every reading. This can take several minutes. with TRITEMP™ no plastic probe covers are required – simply TAP & TAKE.
How does TRITEMP™ help with patient care ?
Additionally, with TRITEMP™, the nurse doesn’t have to disturb the patient or waken them to take a temperature, minimizing distress for both the patient and the nurse.
How long do nurses spend finding equipment on a ward ?
Findings suggest that nurses could spend the equivalent of 40 hours per month searching for equipment. In the majority of cases, nurses were looking for devices or consumables. Among the most sought items were thermometers and plastic caps for thermometers.
FAQ’s
References
- https://www.nursingtimes.net/archive/nurses-waste-an-hour-a-shift-finding-equipment-10-02-2009/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/49845558_A_36-Hospital_Time_and_Motion_Study_How_Do_Medical-Surgical_Nurses_Spend_Their_Time
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22111656/
- https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2016/02/05/review-shows-how-nhs-hospitals-can-save-money-and-improve-care/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22111656/
- https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/stress-and-abuse-remain-high-among-nhs-nurses-reveals-survey-18-02-2020/
- https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/staff-survey
