Give nurses more time to care, says RCN

Published: 28 April 2008

An increase in paperwork is preventing nurses from spending enough time caring for patients, according to a new survey for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

The snapshot survey of nurses in Scotland found that the vast majority (89 per cent) believed that non-essential paperwork had increased over the past five years but some said that clerical support in their workplace was either non-existent or had not kept pace with demand.

Almost two-fifths of nurses questioned (38 per cent) had no access to administrative support despite the majority (87 per cent) firmly believing that help with clerical duties would mean they could spend more time caring for patients. Despite the increase in clerical tasks, only a fifth of nurses (21 per cent) across the country had seen a corresponding increase in administrative support in their workplace over the past two years. Those who did have support from an administrative role had, on average, less than three hours (2.5 hours) direct help every week.

Commenting on the survey results for Scotland, RCN Scotland Director Theresa Fyffe said: “It is clear from this survey that nurses are feeling over-burdened by paperwork and that this is impacting on the time they can devote to caring for patients and supporting relatives. Some paperwork is obviously essential, but non-essential tasks should be carried out by administrative staff.

“The Scottish Government’s recent Senior Charge Nurse Review supports this message and the need to reduce the administrative burden on nurses so they can devote more time to patient care. RCN Scotland will be working in partnership over the next two years, while the role of SCN is implemented, to ensure that this message is clearly heard and that frontline nurses get appropriate administrative help.”