Nursing staff facing paperwork overload

Published: 21 April 2013

Nursing staff are being prevented from caring for their patients because they are drowning in a sea of paperwork, the Royal College of Nursing has said.

An ICM survey for the RCN has revealed that the increasing burden of administrative work on nursing staff means they spend an estimated 2.5 million hours a week on non-essential paperwork and clerical tasks. The majority of survey respondents said the amount of non-essential paperwork had increased in the last two years and more than three quarters said that having to complete non-essential paperwork prevented them from providing direct patient care.

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter has called for urgent action. “Some paperwork is essential and nurses will continue to do this, but patients want their nurses by their bedside, not ticking boxes,” he said.

Technology was also highlighted as an issue with survey findings showing that technology, when not used properly, can actually increase the workload of nursing staff; a particular problem for those working in the community, such as district nurses.

Dr Carter added: “We need a smart, efficient and IT-savvy NHS, not a halfway house that actually impedes the work of staff and takes them away from patients.”