An Observational Study on Activity Analysis of Nursing Personnel Working in Pediatric In-patient Unit of a Selected Hospital in Delhi

The activities of nurses in wards are different throughout the day as the needs of the children vary with the time of the day. Time spent by nurses in direct care activities has been identified as a determinant of better patient outcome and fewer errors.1,2 Patient satisfaction is also related to the amount of care received. Role of nurses working in pediatric wards are multifaceted as the needs of a hospitalized child are different from an older patient. Information about the amount of time spent on various activities is very important for the nurse manager. It provides them with evidence to maximize productivity by evaluating the appropriate staff development; skill-mix and whether they need job re-allocation and changes in the model of delivery care. Information is needed for evaluating changes in nursing practice following the introduction of new system and to assess effectiveness of the new system. The present study aimed to analyze the activity of nursing personnel working in pediatric in-patient units. The objectives of the study were to assess the proportion of time spent by nursing personnel in various activities in pediatric inpatient units and to compare the proportion of duty time spent by nursing personnel in various activities in different duty shifts. The activities of 41 nursing personnel working in pediatric wards of Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, New Delhi, comprised the sample. An observation checklist was used to analyze the activities. Total 1511 activities were observed during seven days period in the pediatric units, using the work sampling method. Findings showed that most of the nurse participants were engaged in direct care activities (53%), followed by indirect care activities (28%), miscellaneous activities (14%) and least common were unit related activities (5%). Medication, documentation, reporting was the most time-consuming activity in the pediatric wards. The proportion of time spent in all groups of activities were different in morning and evening and time spent for direct care and indirect care was same in the pediatric wards. The nursing personnel in pediatric ward spent most of the time in direct care patient activities more than indirect care patient activities. And the least common time was spent in unit-related activities in pediatric in-patient units in both the duty shifts.