Nurses in Wales drowning in paperwork
Published: 21 April 2013
Nurses spend 2.5 million hours a week on paperwork - RCN survey
Nurses are being prevented from caring for their patients because they are drowning in a sea of paperwork, an ICM survey for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) revealed today (21 April).
The increasing burden of administrative work on nurses means they spend an estimated 2.5 million hours a week on non-essential paperwork and clerical tasks - more than double the 2008 figure. This equates to an average of 17.3 per cent of all the hours worked by NHS nurses in the UK .
The vast majority (86 per cent) of the 6,387 nurses who responded across the UK to the survey said the amount of non-essential paperwork such as filing, photocopying and ordering supplies had increased in the last two years, with over half (55 per cent) saying it had increased dramatically.
In addition, more than three quarters (81 per cent) of nurses working in every setting surveyed said that having to complete non-essential paperwork prevented them from providing direct patient care.
Peter Meredith-Smith, Associate Director (Employment Relations) Royal College of Nursing in Wales, said: “Nurses are telling us that they are spending too much time with paperwork and not enough time caring for their patients.
Let’s be clear: Record keeping and paperwork are essential elements of nursing. Nurses and other clinicians must keep clear, accurate and timely records of care they provide to their patients to support communication, continuity and decision making. This includes all forms of patient records, such as anything that is documented about a patient and his/her care and treatment.
However, we are in a situation now where the paperwork is extremely burdensome and can be difficult to navigate. It has become a complex and time consuming nature of the process. We need to work toward eliminating redundant and non-value-added paperwork.”
More than a quarter (27 per cent) of nurses said their workplace doesn’t have a ward clerk or administrative assistant who helps with clerical duties, and of those most (81 per cent) thought having a ward clerk or administrative assistant would mean they would be able to spend more time providing direct patient care. Nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of their colleagues who did have help confirmed that having a ward clerk or administrative assistant meant they spend more direct time with patients.
Worryingly, the survey also found that if technology is not used properly it can actually increase the workload of nursing staff. Over two-thirds (69 per cent) said the use of Information Technology has increased the amount of time they spend on paperwork and administration and a quarter (26 per cent) said that Information Technology is not appropriate for the job they need to do. Members have told the RCN that when technology isn’t implemented properly, it can actually double the amount of paperwork for each patient. This is a particular problem for those nurses working in the community, such as district nurses.
Mr. Meredith-Smith added: “In Wales, we are very concerned about the lack of progress in developing IT support for community nurses. Whilst some health boards are progressing the IT agenda, the majority of community nurses in Wales are left carrying around boxes of paperwork that take literally hours in the day to complete appropriately. This wastes time and money and also creates the frustration of duplicating the same paperwork moving laboriously around the health service to the detriment of patient care. If community services are to be the way forward then the inclusion of nursing systems into IT strategies is urgently required.
Ends
Notes for Editors
1. For further information, please contact the RCN Wales Communications Office on 07773367707.
2. The RCN is the largest professional body for qualified, registered nurses and nursing students with over 410,000 members in the UK including 24,000 in Wales. The Royal College of Nursing represents nurses and nursing, promotes excellence in practice and shapes health policy.