Prospective memory in the nursing environment: Effects of type of prospective task and prospective load

A nurse's working environment may place high demands on both event-based and time-based prospective memory (PM), leading to forgetting. In the field of nursing, forgetting can have serious consequences and put a patient's life in danger. To better understand the role of prospective load (quantity of PM tasks in memory) in nursing, the current study will examine the effects of type of PM task being performed (event-based or time-based) and quantity of PM tasks (n = 1 or 4) on performance of an ongoing task and PM task(s). A novel paradigm will be used to capture naturalistic elements of the nursing environment. Forty registered nurses will complete a representative documentation task in a full-scale mock-up patient room, while also remembering to perform 1 or 4, event-based or time-based PM task(s). Results from this study can be used to further the literature on prospective load, explain possible causes of nursing error, and inform the design of memory technology aides.