Efficient use of nursing resource at St. Luke's Hospital

Abstract

This study examined whether the available nursing resources on the Surgical Department at St. Luke's Hospital are being utilised efficiently. Data was collected using quantitative and qualitative research methods and questionnaires were distributed to 7 nursing tutors and the Surgical Department's nursing personnel to: • Classify activities into nursing and non-nursing. • Determine the activities nurses are currently performing in the Surgical • Department at St. Luke's Hospital. • Calculate the time spent on nursing and non-nursing activities on the • surgical wards. • Determine the nursing complement needed to carry out ideal nursing care. • Prove the effectiveness of skill mix. An important finding of this study is that nurses are currently spending a significant amount of time on non-nursing duties and also on nursing duties that could be delegated to nursing assistants under the supervision of qualified staff. The results obtained from the data collated prove that there are enough nurses on the Surgical Department at St. Luke's Hospital to cater for the nursing workload demand, provided that: 1. Nurses are distributed appropriately according to workload. 2. They carry out nursing duties only. 3. The requisite support staff is available to perform the other duties. Further studies are needed to: • Determine the activities carried out by non-nursing personnel working on the wards. • Study the availability and quality of support services and staff. • Evaluate the deployment of the nursing staff in relation to workload. • Determine whether the findings of this study hold also for the other departments within St. Luke's Hospital.