Nursing Activities and Use of Time in the Postanesthesia Care Unit

Nurses spent 35.2% of their time on direct clinical care, 11.6% on patient assessment, 7.0% on communication with patients, 7.2% on communication with other persons, 8.6% on clerical nursing duties, 9.3% on documentation, 2.3% on non-nursing duties, and 18.8% on personal activities. Variations in the use of time were found between shifts, different nurse-patient ratios, and PACU experience. Methods of decreasing time when the nurse-patient ratio is inappropriate and increasing time allocated to direct care activities are proposed.