Time to call off the search
Over the last years several studies have looked at how the hours of a nurse’s shift is spent.
Most of them conclude that too little of the nurse’s time is spent on work that involves direct interaction with the patients and that too much time is spent looking for equipment. A recent survey confirms that the United Kingdom is no different.
According to the survey by Nursing Times, more than one-third of nurses spend at least an hour finding items like pumps, drip stands, thermometers and drug cupboard keys, during an average hospital shift. The nurses also report that they spend an additional hour helping others locate items.
"Some days it feels like I spend all day looking for things." one of the nurses surveyed said.
All in all the survey found that nurses could spend the equivalent of 40 hours per month hunting for equipment. BBC News have calculated this to equate to £900m of NHS wages a year.
A vast majority of the nurses questioned, 90%, said they would use a computer for finding equipment if the information was accurate.
To Sonitor Technologies the survey is a confirmation of the need hospitals all over the world are experiencing for a reliable and accurate Real Time Location System.
The survey of 989 nurses was carried out by Nursing Times, the leading weekly magazine for nurses in the United Kingdom, and GS1 UK, a not-for-profit body that helped introduce barcoding technology into the NHS.
Links:
Nursing Times
GS1 UK
BBC News
NHS
News archive.