Table 3 Proportions of time spent on main categories and subcategories of work tasks, for each profession based on self-reported data from the time study
Work tasks | Overall | Registered nurse | Primary care physician | Care administrator | Nurse assistant | Allied professions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | % | (min–max) | n | % | (min–max) | n | % | (min–max) | n | % | (min–max) | n | % | (min–max) | n | % | (min–max) | |
Direct patient-related work tasks | 342 | 37.2 | (0.1–84.0) | 139 | 42.6 | (2.0–84.0) | 75 | 35.9 | (3.8–61.1) | 53 | 19.9 | (0.1–66.4) | 42 | 40.4 | (15.7–83.0) | 33 | 40.8 | (21.0–67.5) |
Face-to-face contact with patients | 73.1 | (0–100) | 55.2 | (0–98.3) | 81.8 | (63.7–100) | 84.6 | (0–100) | 90.0 | (24.4–100) | 88.8 | (71.9–100) | ||||||
Telephone contact with patients | 22.4 | (0–100) | 39.8 | (0–100) | 15.9 | (0–31.4) | 8.5 | (0–100) | 4.6 | (0–19.9) | 9.2 | (0–22.8) | ||||||
Telephone contact with the patient’s next of kin | 2.0 | (0–100) | 2.8 | (0–19.1) | 1.1 | (0–9.2) | 3.1 | (0–100) | 0.5 | (0–3,2) | 0.8 | (0–4.6) | ||||||
Remaining tasks | 2.5 | (0–66.5) | 2.2 | (0–45.4) | 1.2 | (0–18.6) | 3.8 | (0–55.6) | 5.0 | (0–66.5) | 1.3 | (0–14.2) | ||||||
Indirect patient-related work tasks | 348 | 30.9 | (0.1–88.7) | 138 | 27.6 | (1.4–56.4) | 75 | 34.1 | (6.5–62.6) | 60 | 45.3 | (0.1–88.7) | 42 | 18.2 | (0.8–46.1) | 33 | 27.8 | (14.8–51.9) |
Documentation in health care records, ordering tests | 45.9 | (0–100) | 51.6 | (12.5–100) | 11.9 | (0–59.6) | 76.4 | (0–100) | 41.0 | (0–94.0) | 49.9 | (11.4–83.2) | ||||||
Reading health care records | 11.8 | (0–58.8) | 13.3 | (0–58.8) | 16.8 | (0.5–46.6) | 0.9 | (0–26.8) | 8.6 | (0–39.8) | 17.8 | (0–53.2) | ||||||
Contact with other caregivers about patient cases | 8.2 | (0–100) | 9.6 | (0–37.8) | 9.8 | (0–31.5) | 4.3 | (0–100) | 8.1 | (0–60.7) | 5.7 | (0–26.7) | ||||||
Dictation | 6.1 | (0–75.1) | 1.0 | (0–19.6) | 24.0 | (4.1–75.1) | 0.6 | (0–21.9) | 0.7 | (0–11.4) | 3.7 | (0–35.8) | ||||||
Scheduling appointments | 5.6 | (0–100) | 6.8 | (0–50.0) | 0.9 | (0–4.7) | 5.5 | (0–100) | 9.8 | (0–100) | 6.3 | (0–46.9) | ||||||
Signing journal entries | 4.3 | (0–55.7) | 3.2 | (0–19.6) | 13.0 | (0–55.7) | 0.03 | (0–1.1) | 0.4 | (0–4.9) | 1.7 | (0–15.3) | ||||||
Referral management | 2.6 | (0–21.9) | 1.5 | (0–14.4) | 5.5 | (0–15.3) | 1.7 | (0–16.2) | 0.9 | (0–8.1) | 4.0 | (0–21.9) | ||||||
Handling mail | 2.2 | (0–100) | 1.3 | (0–41.7) | 2.8 | (0–13.8) | 3.8 | (0–100) | 2.6 | (0–32.6) | 0.9 | (0–10.6) | ||||||
Prescribing medical drugs | 2.2 | (0–29.2) | 0.4 | (0–6.5) | 9.2 | (0–29.2) | 0.3 | (0–5.7) | 0.04 | (0–1.6) | 0.4 | (0–6.3) | ||||||
Entering data into health care records and quality registries | 1.2 | (0–35.3) | 2.1 | (0–35.3) | 0.2 | (0–2.7) | 0.6 | (0–8.5) | 1.3 | (0–24.2) | 1.0 | (0–18.3) | ||||||
Drug management | 1.1 | (0–35.8) | 2.0 | (0–35.8) | 0.8 | (0–10.5) | 0.4 | (0–17.1) | 0.4 | (0–5.1) | 0.03 | (0–1.0) | ||||||
Patient-related transport | 1.1 | (0–26.7) | 1.7 | (0–26.7) | 0.8 | (0–8.4) | 0.0 | (0–0) | 1.2 | (0–23.6) | 1.0 | (0–16.5) | ||||||
Prescription of medical aids | 0.9 | (0–25.4) | 1.9 | (0–25.4) | 0.3 | (0–13.1) | 0.0 | (0–0) | 0.4 | (0–10.7) | 0.2 | (0–2.3) | ||||||
Contact with authorities | 0.6 | (0–18.3) | 0.5 | (0–7.9) | 0.7 | (0–8.3) | 0.3 | (0–8.8) | 0.2 | (0–3.2) | 1.7 | (0–18.3) | ||||||
Remaining tasks | 6.4 | (0–100) | 3.2 | (0–34.4) | 3.2 | (0–40.8) | 5.2 | (0–73.5) | 24.5 | (0–100) | 5.7 | (0–54.9) | ||||||
Other work tasks | 350 | 32.9 | (3.5–99.3) | 139 | 30.0 | (3.5–98.0) | 75 | 30.0 | (11.1–89.6) | 61 | 38.2 | (9.0–99.3) | 42 | 41.4 | (14.1–77.0) | 33 | 31.4 | (6.1–52.4) |
Meetings at the work place | 21.0 | (0–77.1) | 23.4 | (0–67.9) | 24.6 | (0–64.3) | 18.7 | (0–77.1) | 14.2 | (0–35.7) | 16.1 | (0–59.4) | ||||||
Pauses | 19.7 | (0–100) | 23.4 | (0–78.5) | 13.7 | (0–42.4) | 21.6 | (0–65.7) | 16.0 | (4.3–35.8) | 18.7 | (1.2–100) | ||||||
Other writing tasks/administration | 15.9 | (0–84.2) | 14.4 | (0–51.8) | 6.3 | (0–84.2) | 32.4 | (0–79.8) | 16.8 | (0–40.0) | 11.7 | (0–51.0) | ||||||
Continuing education | 10.2 | (0–100) | 8.3 | (0–62.8) | 21.6 | (0–90.9) | 4.8 | (0–100) | 2.4 | (0–55.2) | 12.9 | (0–61.9) | ||||||
Managing equipment and facilities, non-computer related | 6.5 | (0–55.6) | 5.6 | (0–41.4) | 0.4 | (0–10.1) | 1.6 | (0–17.9) | 27.8 | (0–55.6) | 6.1 | (0–38.8) | ||||||
Managing e-mails | 5.5 | (0–47.0) | 6.1 | (0–26.9) | 4.6 | (0–15.9) | 5.1 | (0–26.5) | 4.3 | (0–16.2) | 7.7 | (0–47.0) | ||||||
Receiving and performing mentoring | 3.5 | (0–63.7) | 2.1 | (0–36.2) | 10.0 | (0–63.7) | 0.5 | (0–7.5) | 0.8 | (0–8.4) | 3.6 | (0–41.1) | ||||||
Meetings outside the work place | 3.4 | (0–61.3) | 3.3 | (0–33.1) | 4.6 | (0–61.3) | 2.4 | (0–21.3) | 1.6 | (0–19.2) | 5.9 | (0–37.4) | ||||||
Waiting, non-computer related | 2.0 | (0–37.3) | 2.4 | (0–23.6) | 1.6 | (0–21.5) | 0.4 | (0–9.3) | 3.6 | (0–37.3) | 1.9 | (0–20.3) | ||||||
Scheduling | 1.6 | (0–57.1) | 1.4 | (0–18.2) | 2.2 | (0–57.1) | 2.0 | (0–40.5) | 1.1 | (0–11.2) | 0.9 | (0–7.7) | ||||||
Managing computer problems | 1.3 | (0–28.3) | 1.0 | (0–22.2) | 1.5 | (0–28.3) | 2.2 | (0–20.8) | 1.1 | (0–6.7) | 0.9 | (0–8.8) | ||||||
Non-patient-related transport | 0.9 | (0–18.3) | 0.8 | (0–14.3) | 1.0 | (0–15.3) | 0.2 | (0–6.4) | 0.5 | (0–12.1) | 2.5 | (0–18.3) | ||||||
Ordering medical supplies, including laundry | 0.7 | (0–23.0) | 0.3 | (0–6.5) | 0.01 | (0–0.5) | 0.6 | (0–23.0) | 3.9 | (0–12.1) | 0.4 | (0–5.6) | ||||||
Non-patient-related telephone contacts | 0.6 | (0–20.5) | 0.6 | (0–9.0) | 0.5 | (0–20.5) | 0.6 | (0–6.0) | 0.5 | (0–3.0) | 0.9 | (0–13.6) | ||||||
Remaining tasks | 7.3 | (0–40.0) | 7.1 | (0–40.0) | 7.5 | (0–37.8) | 7.1 | (0–27.5) | 5.6 | (0–26.0) | 10.0 | (0–38.9) | ||||||